Revenge, Taken
by waluigifan20
Summary: AU where Egil leaves the Mechonis with the party and controls Yaldabaoth by remote to stop Zanza. There was actually a real possibility that this could have been canon, because there's data for a playable Egil in XC1's files. Enjoy! Rated T for violence similar to that in the game.
1. Shulk and Egil

All it takes is one sentence spoken, one sentence to vastly change everything. This is one such example.

"So, you worms have finally arrived." Egil saw all eight of them approaching him. The successor of Zanza, Shulk, his loud and boisterous friend, Reyn, the Face Unit Fiora, the Homs hero Dunban, Riki, the worthless Nopon accompanying them, Sharla, the medic from Colony Six, Melia, the High Entia princess, and his sister, Vanea. He had his mind set. Nobody would convince him otherwise.

"Egil! Stop the Mechonis! There has to be a way for us to live in peace! There's no reason to fight! You must stop this now!" Shulk was determined, Egil had to admit.

"My reasons are clear, and truer than yours." He never expected that Shulk would have ever managed to destroy the Apocrypha, but it didn't matter. The Mechonis had awakened. He would finally get his revenge.

"But what will you do after?" A voice within him seemed to call out, appeal to him? What would he do after? The Mechon weren't much help, and his fellow Machina on the Fallen Arm hated him. Pushing the thought away, he switched the Mechonis' eye to view mode, offering a panoramic view of the dormant Bionis and the awakened Mechonis.

Reyn and Sharla's marveling at the transformation was cut off by Egil's proclamation, "May the roar of the Mechonis be the wrath of my people!" He stabbed forward with Yaldabaoth's sword, and the Mechonis mirrored Yaldabaoth, driving its sword into the dormant Bionis' left shoulder.

"How many? How many do you think died in that attack? Hundreds? Maybe thousands?" Egil taunted the eight of them, hoping to enrage them and make them fight sloppily. However, Reyn saying "Egil! You'll regret this!" made him question that judgement. They didn't seem to be as blindly enraged by his taunting as he thought they would. Perhaps...no, they were still not powerful enough. He knew he had it in him to finally defeat Shulk.

"Brother! Stop this! You'll destroy the Bionis! Let us put an end to our torment!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears. He would destroy the Bionis, and no one would stop him. He would finally get his revenge.

"It ends when I say it ends! I will end our curse by destroying the world!" He boldly proclaimed this to the eight standing before him.

"You must realize that is not Lady Meyneth's wish. That's why she left us her legacy - our whole world!" Vanea pleaded with him once more. It wouldn't change a thing. He had his mind set, and he would not stop until he had his revenge. Besides, her mentioning Lady Meyneth infuriated him. She had abandoned them in their most desperate hour, and now she returned, after all this time? He pointed Yaldabaoth's sword at Fiora. "Pure nonsense. That **_thing_** lurking within the Homs girl is no longer our god. This world no longer has a need for gods."

Shulk had had enough of this, evidently, and stepped forward. Activating the Monado, he spoke. "Egil! Stop this!" This last declaration left no impact on Egil. He knew it was coming to it. A true battle to the death. There was nowhere for him to retreat to now. No traitorous gods to save Shulk. He finally said, "Face me, Shulk! Successor of Zanza! I'll crush the Bionis and spread its ashes across the world! Then I'll turn the Monado into dust. _**ONLY THEN WILL THERE BE PEACE!**_"

* * *

The battle continued on, until something happened for Egil. He saw an opportunity, and began charging his ultimate attack. He called this attack Bionis Slash X. After going through nine iterations of increasing power, Egil had finally created an attack powerful enough to destroy a titan. It was an extremely powerful downward swing, and he calculated that it would cut right through the Bionis. He began preparations, summoning three energy transfer devices to give him the power he needed. 2:00, 1:59, 1:58... 0:57, 0:56, 0:55... Yaldabaoth shorted out. Shulk had destroyed the energy devices, having received a vision, because _**of course he would have**_. Did Egil really think Zanza would simply stand by and watch as he destroyed Bionis? Egil resolved to defeat them. Then, he would summon more devices and use the Art without anyone to stand in his way.

* * *

Shulk ran towards Egil, expertly dodging every energy shot Yaldabaoth took at him, glowing with the blue aura of Zanza. Egil finally had enough of Shulk's agility, and swung Yaldabaoth's sword at him from the side, putting all the power he could muster into the swing. _And Shulk blocked it._ Their powers fought for a second, before Shulk, brimming with immense power, sent the sword back from whence it came. When Egil swung the sword again, Shulk leaped into the air with a battle cry, directly at Yaldabaoth. Fiora screamed at him to stop, but it didn't faze him. Landing on Yaldabaoth's chest, he cut off its head, exposing its pilot. Incredulous, Egil simply asked, "How is this possible?" Enveloped in blue fire, Shulk simply stood there, holding the activated Monado above his head, before speaking, but not to Egil. He spoke to someone else, not even anyone else visible in the Mechonis' Core. "Yes, I will. I'll kill him. A thousand times." Egil realized with a chill running down his mechanical spine that he was speaking to Zanza.

"Yes. I want to. I'll kill him. For Fiora, for the Emperor. **FOR MY HOME!**" He stood there, looking at Egil, clearly being spoken to by Zanza. He stood there, and after a while, he readied the sword. "No. This isn't what I want!" He swung it down. Egil closed his eyes, ready. It never came. He opened his eyes, to see the Monado, right above him, Shulk's expression that of relief. Shulk deactivated the Monado and sat down next to Egil. Egil asked him, "Why didn't you do it? Killing me would have saved your world." Shulk's answer was shocking. He said, "I've forgotten all about that." Incredulous, Egil simply repeated him. "Forgotten about it?" Shulk's reply was even more surprising to Egil. "I realized that we both share the same pain. Egil, I don't have any reason to kill you." Egil responded with a threat. "Even if you do not, I still do." Shulk cut him off with "I know. But I won't do it."

Remembering why Shulk had come to Mechonis in the first place, Egil's response was stubborn, as stubborn as Egil had been for the thousands of years he had spent preparing for Zanza's return. "If you do not kill me now, my blade will annihilate every last one of your people. Even then?" Shulk's reply came with determination, the same determination he had used to reach this location in the first place. "I can't kill you, but I can stop your blade. And I'll do it, over and over again, until...we understand each other. Okay?" Egil was stunned. Shulk was simply that determined, that courageous, to come to Mechonis and force its leader to stop attacking beings of Bionis, promising to keep blocking Egil's, no, the entire Mechonis' attacks, until Egil stopped and there was peace between the two titans for the first time in millennia. Then his mind drifted to the last obstacle between them and peace - Zanza. He had tried to get Shulk to kill Egil. Zanza clearly had some sort of influence on Shulk, even though he wasn't possessing him. Deep in thought, he said, "You have used the Monado well. But do you honestly believe you are its master?"

Egil began to explain what happened that drove him to this state. "Mechonis and Bionis once lived in harmony. They coexisted in peace, without hatred or strife." As he spoke, he remembered spending time with his dear friend, the giant Arglas, on the Bionis' right shoulder, looking off towards its horn. The giant had asked him, "Egil, why do you think we were born?" He had responded with, "Ah, philosophy! Alas, I am not very good at answering such questions." That was true. He had never been good at philosophy. He still wasn't, to this day. Arglas had posed the question to him, "Have you never thought about it? Never contemplated what lies beyond this world?" He had been surprised, repeating Arglas' question. "Beyond this world? Lady Meyneth said that aside from the Bionis and the Mechonis, this world is filled with nothing but boundless ocean." Arglas simply asked the next logical question in a philosophical conversation such as theirs. "But what lies beyond that?" Egil had looked at him funny, and he said, "We are still young, and unable to leave the Bionis or the Mechonis. Say goodbye to our creators, our world. But one day, our descendants will. They will leave this place and depart for new worlds, worlds we have never imagined, by strength of their will alone." Egil had been silently pondering what Arglas had been saying, and he replied with, "Leave this place? That is something I have never considered. However, it would be a truly amazing sight." Before leaving the view, Arglas had said, "Egil, I wish to see that the people of Bionis and the people of Mechonis live in peace and harmony and take care of one another. I wish this for the future of our descendants." Egil had agreed with Arglas, and then they had returned from the view.

Returning to the present, he continued. "Everyone shared the belief that the prosperity of our two worlds would continue for all eternity. It would have done, were it not for the Monado. The Monado refused to permit the existence of the Mechonis, or rather, the existence of anything but itself. And one day, it took control of my friend Arglas, and he became Zanza. It was Arglas, possessed by Zanza, who directed his sword at Mechonis." Shulk was silent throughout the story, but after Egil was done, he said, "I don't understand. Does being controlled by the Monado mean you will eventually become Zanza?" "The Monado is Zanza," Egil clarified. "Zanza is the Monado. The two are one and the same. In order to perpetuate the existence of his soul, Zanza inhabits beings of Bionis. But you appear to be different." It appeared to dawn on Shulk what Egil was saying. He asked, "What do you mean?" "I can see it," Egil replied. "How well you retained a sense of self. Perhaps you can break the curse of Zanza. And was that not precisely our wish, Lady Meyneth? Finally understanding, Shulk said, "I don't know much about any curse. For now, all I can do is this, Egil." He extended his arm, offering Egil his hand to shake. "We can live in peace again." It took Egil a moment to process what Shulk was saying. Why would he so easily forgive Egil for all the crimes he had committed against the beings of Bionis? Then he remembered. Shulk had said that they both shared the same pain. Egil finally replied with, "Again? I see. Yes, you're right." He sat up, ready to shake Shulk's hand and call off all attacking Mechon. Then, a gunshot rang out in the core.

The ether bullet exploded into pink ether when it hit Shulk's chest. Egil was vaguely aware of Fiora and Dunban screaming out his name. Shulk gasped, clutched at his chest, and looked behind him, at his stealthy attacker. Egil followed Shulk's eyes. When he saw that same man in the low-cut blue shirt, red bandanna, and white pants, with the same dual-purpose gun-sword, and the same cunning smirk he always wore, he felt his heart sink as he recognized who it was. The giant, turned into a Homs by Zanza.

_**Disciple Dickson.**_

* * *

**A/N: The divergence will occur in Chapter 2. I'm laying the groundwork in this chapter.**


	2. The Return of Zanza

All it takes is one line, one line to vastly change everything. This is one such example.

**A/N: THIS IS WHERE THE DIVERGENCE TAKES PLACE! I'm really excited.**

* * *

Still wearing that smug expression on his face, Dickson said, "You shouldn't have done that. Little brat."

Egil was shocked. HOW had Dickson managed to sneak up on them so effectively? Shouldn't they have heard him come out of the transporter? Fiora screamed Shulk's name, and Egil managed to react in time to catch Shulk in Yaldabaoth's hand as he fell, putting him down on the platform in front. Dickson had likely created an identity for himself as a friend of Dunban's and the rest of them, as Dunban yelled, "Dickson! Why?" Reyn followed this up with, "Oi, old man! Are you completely out of your mind?"

Looking at the ground, Dickson let out a loud sigh, before saying in a bored tone, "Don't you kids ever shut up? I'm just doing my job, as always." He looked at Egil. "Right?" Clearly horrified by his betrayal, Fiora asked him, "Who are you?" Egil finally pushed his shock at Dickson's sudden appearance to the back of his mind, stating, "It's you." As if annoyed at Egil apparently taking so long to realize who he was, he said, "Yes. Now you remember. It's been a long time, hasn't it, Egil? Too long." Still shocked, he managed to state to the eight of them, in a horrified tone, "Zanza's disciple." With wide eyes, Dunban asked Egil, "Zanza's disciple? Egil, what do you mean? Dickson, what are you?" With a tone of either boredom or disgust, Dickson replied with, "I don't have to explain anything. As they say, seeing is believing. Now, witness it with your own eyes. The moment of Lord Zanza's return!"

Egil looked at Shulk, who was having a seizure on the floor, immense power emanating from him. Suddenly, without warning, his body rose several feet into the air, and surrounded itself with a blue sphere of divine power. Clearly scared for Shulk, Fiora called out to him. "Get away from him," Meyneth desperately said to everyone who was crowded around him, but they didn't listen, and were blown back by an explosion of Zanza's power. Realizing that perhaps he could slow Zanza down if he attacked now, he charged a massive laser beam and shot it at Shulk, with a cry of "Zanza! I won't let you do this!" Shulk's body, raised into a standing position like a puppet, raised its hand, effortlessly absorbing the entire shot, and to Egil's shock, sent the laser blast right back at him, knocking Yaldabaoth into the back wall of the core. Not even noticing Vanea's terrified cry of his name, nor the smoke billowing out of Yaldabaoth, he was transfixed at what was going on in front of him. Shulk's body lowered its hand, and then became enveloped in a brilliant white light, until it fell away, lifeless, onto the ground.

The man standing in its place resembled an older version of Shulk, clad in white-and-gold robes, an evil gleam in his eyes, holding the Monado. Ignoring Egil's statement of his name and Reyn's confused questions, Egil's mortal enemy said with a haughty tone of indifference and yet malice at the same time, "Do not be surprised. Everything in this world is dictated by the passage of fate. As all that exists is interconnected, time can flow only towards the inevitable. That is the vision of which I, the Monado, am the origin. That which will be, will be." He raised his arms up, creating a pair of spectral wings, and many halos that spun in place. "This was all predestined, ever since I came to reside within Shulk." Clearly confused, and likely not helped by Zanza's over-complication of an explanation, the Homs called Sharla asked Zanza, "What do you mean?" Meyneth answered for Zanza, saying, "Zanza grew tired from our battle, and then the High Entia ancestors trapped him. His flesh was sealed away on Prison Island. His soul, and hence the Monado, was confined to Ose Tower." Dunban confusedly asked her, "In those ruins? But what does this have to do with Shulk?" Dickson reminded him, "Did you forget? Who 'discovered' those ruins?" Taking a puff off of his cigar, he resumed, "Who happened to be there? Who was the 'survivor' we found? And who brought back that survivor?" Less confused now, Dunban angrily asked Dickson, "What are you saying? You planned all this when you found Shulk?"

"Jackpot! It was all for this day! In fact, there was never anyone called Shulk to begin with!" Dunban, even more confused now by the last statement, incredulously asked Dickson, "_What?_" Zanza provided an explanation. "My soul existed inside the Monado. It was fated that I be released. It was shown to me in a vision. At last the time finally came, and then..." Dickson continued for him. "The people who found the Monado, and freed it, awoke Zanza. He sucked the lives from them so he could live. Shulk was among them." Clearly incensed, Reyn asked, "Shulk was already dead? That's impossible! We grew up together!" Zanza answered with, "You grew up with an empty shell. He appeared to live because I became his life force. That is until he had matured as my new vessel, and become worthy of wielding the Monado, allowing me to truly awaken and finally return. Dickson explained more. "Lord Zanza is the soul of the Bionis, but he still needs a living body. Just like Meyneth over there. Heh. Call that corpse a friend? Don't make me laugh!" Meyneth lowered her head. The High Entia known as Melia, who had until now remained silent, asked, "But why use Shulk...What was it that made you select Shulk as your vessel?" Zanza answered, "There was no particular reason. He merely happened to be there at the time." Adding on to Zanza's explanation, Dickson said, "There you have it! Anybody woulda done. As long as they could swing a sword around, at least." Dunban and Sharla both asked questions about Shulk's control over the Monado and his visions, and Dickson replied, tossing his cigar on the ground. "All because of Lord Zanza. Lord Zanza can see the passage of fate. He simply led you to the inevitable. The destruction of Colony 9. The death of that pompous old High Entia fool. And that grunt Gadolt's miserable demise. All of it!"

Attempting to attack Dickson from behind, Melia unwisely called out, "You evil..." This was cut off when Dickson knocked her off her feet with his sword, and then pointed the gun part of it at her head. He said, "There's more. We haven't even gotten to the best part." Seething with rage, Dunban screamed at him, "What are you gonna do, Dickson?" Dickson responded as if it were obvious. "Don't you get it? You're just in the way! The lot of you! This world was created by Lord Zanza. By the very Bionis itself. And then you things think you can just spring up all over the place." Clarifying what Dickson had revealed, Zanza said, "All life that is born from me must be returned to me eventually to complete the cycle. For me to continue my existence as before, then all must be restored to its former order." Dickson summarized with, "In other words, the destruction and recreation of the world. Nothing more to it." Holding his blade above his head, Zanza said, "First we must eliminate my greatest obstacle. You, Meyneth. The Mechonis!" The Monado glowed blue, before sending out a blinding flash of white light. Glowing red eyes appeared on the Bionis' head, as it reared its head back and let out an ear-splitting roar. The Bionis took a moment to stretch after being dormant for thousands of years. It was then that Egil, who had been simply watching since Zanza separated from Shulk, saw his chance.

Yaldabaoth had almost finished repairing itself. Egil shouted, "I've been waiting. Waiting for this day. ZANZAAAAAAA!" as he attempted to bring his sword down on Zanza, and by extension the Mechonis' sword onto the Bionis. Zanza raised his right arm to block the strike, and the Bionis did the same. Responding to Vanea's protest of "Brother! Stop! You're too weak!" he proclaimed, "I don't care! I will gladly sacrifice myself to eliminate Zanza. As long as he lives, there can be no peace for us, or for the people of Bionis!" Zanza forced Yaldabaoth to stop attacking him by unleashing a pulse of light ether, then told him, "Then you shall cease to exist! By the wrath of my blade!" He held up the Monado, now changed into an overly-intricate mess of a sword, which the Bionis mirrored, holding the same blade of light it had held so long ago. Angered by Zanza's apathy, Egil growled at him, "I'll show you the meaning of wrath!" and brought Yaldabaoth's sword down on Zanza. With a smug look, Zanza raised the Monado to block it, and the Bionis and Mechonis' blades clashed. Huge waves surged away from the titans as Zanza and Egil both pushed on the other's sword with unimaginable force. The reason for Zanza's smugness was revealed, as to Egil's shock, blue cracks began to form on Yaldabaoth's sword. As Yaldabaoth's and the Mechonis' blades broke, Zanza shouted, "It's finished!" The Monado passed inches away from Egil's head, as the Bionis and Zanza used it to cut the core open and expose it to the air.

As Yaldabaoth plummeted to the bottom of the core, Egil heard Vanea scream to him, "Brother! No!" Egil couldn't see Reyn, but he heard him shout, "Why? Egil and Shulk had put their differences aside!" Completely apathetic to his shouting, Zanza simply stated, "Meaningless sentiment." Angered by this, Dunban screamed at him, "Zanza! Reyn, now!" They walked five steps and stared at Zanza. Puzzled by their lack of action, Egil also heard Melia scream at Zanza, "How could you do this?" Zanza looked at them over his shoulder, before making a sphere of ether that surrounded all eight. He said, "It is from me that all life is born. It lives only for me, and it shall be returned!" Raising the Monado, the Bionis mirrored him. Egil could only watch helplessly as the Bionis brought the Monado down. There was nothing he could do. They would all die, and Zanza would destroy everything. Then the ether dissipated and the Bionis was forced to stop. Fiora had flown towards Zanza, holding two swords brimming with Meyneth's power. As they crossed blades, Egil heard Zanza laugh and say, "So, you have finally unleashed your Monado. And there was me thinking you would die with dignity!" Meyneth responded to him with, "I finally understand. The futures of our children belong to them alone. Though we are their creators, their lives are theirs to control! Even if the passage of fate is as you have decided, I will teach you the strength of their will to resist." Zanza finally repelled Meyneth's attack, and she flew back to the platform, landing on the ground.

**"Zanza. If you choose to deny the existence of every living being but yourself, then I choose to fight. To fight for them!" Fiora added, "That's right. We won't let you erase everyone's futures!" Zanza responded to her with, "This battle is mine, Meyneth!"**

* * *

The battle escalated as Zanza repelled another blade lock from Meyneth, sending her flying off to the side. Egil could tell it wasn't going well, as she repelled his increasingly vicious strikes. He heard him taunting, "Something wrong? Is this the height of your skill? You call yourself a god?" He knocked her against the side of the Mechonis. "You talk of sharing this world with me?" Egil heard him say, "So that's why. The dead boy is important to you. The Homs are nothing but bacteria, clinging to my body!" He heard Meyneth respond to him with a protest. "They are living beings! If you cannot understand this, then you have no right to call yourself a god!" Zanza didn't care, and said, "And who decides that? A god. Because only a god may decide. This world only needs one god, Meyneth." He shot a blast of ether towards Shulk's body, proclaiming, "May you rot in that shell for all eternity!" As she recovered from blocking the blast, he began to absorb a terrible power, blocking out all light, shouting, "Face me like a god. If not, then say goodbye to your PUTRID FRIENDS!" He shot a huge X of white energy directly at the eight of them. With a shout of, "ZANZAAAAA!" Meyneth separated from Fiora, forcing the energy to stop. In shock, Egil heard Zanza ingenuinely lament, "Such a fool." Meyneth spoke to Egil and the rest of them, "This is what I wish. This world belongs to you all. Create a world...with no need for gods." Both her and the blast dissipated, leaving only her Monado behind.

In shock, Egil heard Meyneth's voice speak to him. "Egil, I have one thing I wish for you to do. Shulk can still be saved. I gave him my life force. He lives on. Help him defeat Zanza. Take my Monado, and use it against him. It is your Monado now. Call it to your hand, and leave this place. Pilot Yaldabaoth by remote, but flee the Mechonis. It is doomed now, without its soul. Do not let the flickering fire of hope be extinguished. Go, now."

Returning to reality, Egil saw Meyneth's Monado, no, HIS Monado falling towards him. He reached Yaldabaoth's hand out to grab it, but it stopped, before flying up towards Zanza, the swords fusing into a large greatsword. He would not let Zanza steal his Monado. He mentally grabbed it, and as Zanza teleported away, he forced it out of his hand, their wills doing battle, before its rightful owner's will won out and it came to his hand, Zanza having already gone and being able to do nothing about it. He extricated himself from Yaldabaoth, before climbing up to join the party. The coming battles would be difficult, but with a Monado and determination, they would make their way through them and avenge Lady Meyneth, seizing their destiny.


	3. Escape from the Mechonis

The eight of them still stood on the platform, agape at the bright green light coming from Eryth Sea, tilted at a 45-degree angle on the resting Bionis. It was Reyn, carrying the unconscious Shulk, who first voiced his confusion. "Oi, what's with the light show? Egil, Vanea? You were around when the Bionis woke up before, right? What's the deal with this?" Wrenched out of their stupor, the other five all expressed their confusion at what was happening before their eyes. With a sigh, Egil explained. "Zanza does many evil deeds to the life he creates, but this is, without a doubt, the worst of all. It is the birth of the army that Zanza will use to scour Bionis of life. Telethia." Riki asked him, "Birth of Dinobeasts? Riki not understand! How Zanza create Dinobeast?"

It was at this moment that an explosion rocked Mechonis. Egil said, "I could explain this now, causing us to die with Mechonis and leave Lady Meyneth's final wish unfulfilled, or we could leave now and save the explanation for our ride back to Bionis on Junks." Everyone nodded assent, and they left through the portal, Reyn picking up Shulk's unconscious body, and Egil activating Yaldabaoth's remote control feature and summoning a Honey Bee Mechon with a microphone. This was so that he could project his voice through Yaldabaoth and make Zanza think that he was going down with Mechonis.

As they ran through the uppermost reaches of the Central Factory, Egil reflected on how much had changed in just a single hour. An hour ago, he had refused to accept Shulk's peace offer and had planned to destroy Bionis, and now the god of Bionis had returned and wanted to kill everything. He had killed their god, and Egil had taken up her Monado in her stead. As they reached Junks, the biggest explosion yet racked Mechonis. As they entered, Egil spoke to them, saying "I'd like to have a moment with my father. If you would excuse me..." and entering the control room. Miqol was looking down as Egil entered, and without looking up, said, "I'm sorry you had to kill him. There really was no other way. However, I must ask a question. What are all these explosions..."

This was cut off abruptly when he looked up at Egil, holding the pastel-shaded greatsword that was the current form of Meyneth's Monado. "Egil? My son? Is it really you? And is that...Lady Meyneth's Monado?" "Yes, my father. It is me. Before we speak, I must tell you that Zanza has returned. He killed Lady Meyneth and awakened Bionis. We must escape." Miqol was shocked by this, but he managed to hold back his grief at their god's sacrifice to say to the pilot, "Get us out of here, NOW! You heard what Egil said. Take us to Colony 6." As Junks lifted off, Egil conveyed Meyneth's last wish to Miqol. "She wished for a world with no need for gods, and she also spoke to me telepathically, asked me to take her Monado, and told me that she healed Shulk. Zanza tried to take it from her, but I was able to call it to my hand before he left."

Stunned by the revelation, Miqol had no words for a moment. Finally, he spoke, as close as a Machina could come to being choked up. "Then go, dear son, and fulfill our god's last wish. Be the hero of Mechonis to stand with the hero of Bionis against its deluded, power-hungry psychopath of a god." Upon receiving his father's approval, Egil headed back out of the cockpit into the area where the other seven were standing, noting the map of Mechonis saying that they were about halfway out of it. Almost as soon as he came through the door, Melia asked him, "So, how does Zanza create his army of Telethia?" Sighing, Egil explained. "He returns to Prison Island, and uses the Monado to sink it into the Bionis' head. This breaks open a strategically placed pocket of pure Bionis ether directly underneath the island, and it cascades out over Eryth Sea. When the ether reaches Alcamoth, it reverts all pure-blooded High Entia into their true forms as Telethia."

As soon as Egil finished speaking, Melia gasped, holding her hand to her mouth, and fell to her knees. After several seconds of silence, she asked him, "Is there any way to reverse the transformation or change Telethia into High Entia?" Barely able to conceal the smirk on his face, he took out a spray bottle from one of the pouches he carried with him. It had a translucent Telethia feather and an arrow pointing from it to a High Entia feather printed on the side. He said, "Yes. I developed this when I created the Apocrypha. It is anti-Telethia spray. Do you remember how I was able to disable the Monado with the Apocrypha? The Apocrypha focused the Mechonis' natural ether, which has an opposing wavelength to the Bionis' ether. Therefore, if one were to use the ether on a Telethia or a High Entia being transformed into one, it would reverse the transformation immediately. I refined some of the ether collected by the Apocrypha into a liquid form, then put it into a spray bottle for maximum effect. I also made the spray eradicate the offending gene that causes the transformation, making it impossible for Zanza to change the High Entia back into a Telethia."

He continued. "I created this so that if Zanza ever sent Telethia to attack Agniratha again, I would be ready. This weapon is better than anything else against Telethia, because it is virtually impossible to dodge, thus rendering their mind-reading useless, and by its very nature, it defeats the Telethia in one hit. It was created before I fell out with the villagers, so there's more in Junks." Glancing at the map of Mechonis, he noticed that they were almost out. He said, "I am sorry to cut things short, but we are almost out of Mechonis, and Zanza will be ready as soon as we are out to attack us with the Monado. Telethia spray will be useless if Zanza kills us all. I must prepare Yaldabaoth for battle." He mentally connected to the Face, giving it the order to get battle-ready. After five seconds it was done, and Egil saw through the Mechonis' lower eyes, still intact after the top part had been severed. Speaking again, he said, "Clear the space around me. I must move around a lot to control Mechonis, and I do not want you to be harmed." Projecting his voice through the small Mechon and out through the Mechonis, he said, "Get ready, Zanza. Our battle will be one to decide the fate of this world!" then speaking to himself, "You are no fool, but even the wisest person would fall for the trick I am about to pull."

Junks flew out of the exhaust port and flew towards the Bionis. As soon as it exited, they heard Zanza mock Egil's taunt, and his unmistakable laughter. "Decide the fate of this world? Ha! You stubborn mortals are so desperate to cling to your pathetic lives, that you delude yourselves into believing you can fight the passage of fate." The Bionis raised the Monado above its head, ready to slice Junks in half. Zanza spoke again through the Bionis. "Allow me to make things crystal clear. **THERE IS NO HOPE FOR YOU!**" As the Bionis brought the Monado down on Junks, Egil brought the Mechonis' reconstructed left arm up to block the strike. The Monado sliced through it again, but Junks was able to escape, and move close enough to Bionis so that Zanza could not reach them. Angered at losing his prey, just as a Feris would be at losing an Ardun calf, Zanza screamed, "Don't you ever give up?" Readying the Mechonis, Egil replied, "Never, but hear this, Zanza. They will judge not my actions against the life of Bionis, but against **YOUUUUUUU!**" He brought the Mechonis' other arm forward, curling its hand into a fist, and punched the Bionis in its chest, making a large hole in it. Unfazed, Zanza brought the Bionis' left arm down onto the Mechonis' arm, breaking it off at the elbow.

Zanza raised the Monado above the Bionis' head once more, and with a scream of "**DIE!" **he brought it down on the armless and headless Mechonis. Feeling his connection to Yaldabaoth break as his vision returned to Junks, Egil returned to the cockpit, where the rest of the group was gathered. With a jolt of anguish, he saw the Bionis, cutting through the Mechonis, the half of the world he had come from destroyed before his very eyes. The Mechonis fell to its knees, before being consumed by a bright blue light. It raised its head to the stars one last time, perhaps controlled by some tenuous vestige of Meyneth. The light grew until the Mechonis could not be seen through it, rising to a point on the sky, before a wave of light passed across the heavens. The Mechonis was no more. In the cockpit of Junks, everyone was deeply shocked and disturbed by Zanza's wrath. Vanea cried, "The Mechonis! No!" At this moment, Reyn, looking off to the side, spotted a strange appearance. "Look starboard. What's that cloud?" Wrenching himself away from the fading light of the Mechonis' demise, Egil came to look. With a sigh, he turned back to the rest of the group. "Well, it looks like that anti-Telethia spray may be quite useful right now. Do not attack the Telethia. Everyone, take a bottle of it now, and go out to the deck. Wait for my signal. I want to taunt whoever's commanding them first." He opened a compartment in the wall. As they all took a bottle, he waited. He thought to himself, "No matter what, this will be amazing. To see their faces when I nullify that first Telethia...hahaha!" With that, he went to follow the group.

* * *

**There it is! I'm finally done with the third chapter. You didn't think only Egil would live besides those who live in the main game, did you? His survival opens up all sorts of intriguing possibilities****...**

**Bit of a shorter chapter this time. Anyway, I look forward to seeing how this plays out. Melancholy Tyrea will be included, but no other sidequests.**


	4. Telethia and Reversal

The cloud of Telethia grew steadily closer, until they were close enough to be able to see the yellow feathers on each individual Telethia. Junks began to shake, and then a huge serpent-shaped Telethia burst up from beneath it, carrying Dickson on its back, who then jumped onto Junks' deck, proclaiming, "You're not getting away!" Dunban angrily shouted his name, which prompted him to speak once more. "Listen, it's over. Time for you all to return to the Bionis, nice and quietly. Except you, Egil. Your ether's Mechonis ether. Lord Zanza doesn't need that trash. Although, when I scrap you, I'll keep Meyneth's Monado and give it to him. You've no right to hold a sword meant for a god. Are you even sapient, you junk bot?" He was unmoved by most of what Dickson said, but he responded to the last part with, "Meyneth used this very sword to grant us our sapience. Without it, we would simply be humanoid Mechon." Dickson was about to respond, but was cut off when Dunban shouted, "What made you like this, Dickson? We all respected you, especially Shulk! How could you betray us like this? Shulk thought of you like a father!"

At this moment, Sharla added, "Dickson! Don't let Zanza control you! Wake up!" Grimacing at Sharla's apparent ignorance, he said to her, "You can quit your bellyaching. I'm in total control. I've always been like this, ever since long before any of you lot were born!" The shock crept across Dunban's face, and Dickson continued. "Now ya get it. It's just like Egil said. I'm Lord Zanza's disciple, Dickson of the Trinity!" Finally speaking after being silent the entire time, Fiora said in outrage, "The **TRINITY?!** There are **MORE** disciples than just you?!" Dickson responded by simply laughing, and saying to the Telethia, "Now! Take them out!" before jumping onto the back of another. Egil saw Dunban's arm go to his bottle of Mechonis ether, and quietly said, "Wait. Not yet. Wait for me to give a signal."

* * *

"Hahahaha! You waste of space! Not so tough without Shulk, eh? Stupid beast!" The seemingly defeated party looked up at Dickson as he continued his taunting of Dunban. "You should be grateful, not everyone has a war buddy like me to lead them along! Tasted good, didn't they? The victory drinks we used to share!" Instead of responding to Dickson, Dunban glanced at Egil with a pleading look in his eyes. Egil whispered to him, "Just wait a little longer, help is coming. I could sense it from far away." Shouting, "Quit your plotting! It ends here!" Dickson ordered the Telethia to begin charging a huge ether blast. As the swirling vortex of green and blue converged on its mouth, three green laser blasts interrupted the Telethia's attack, and Dickson jumped out of their way.

He shouted, "What? Who was that? Show yourself!" A voice called out, "Melia, are you all right?" A fleet of airships bearing High Entia soldiers, as well as a High Entia in royal regalia, confronted Dickson's horde of Telethia. Egil didn't know what the airships were called, but he could sense that they were positively brimming with pure ether, ready to break free and turn the High Entia riding them into Telethia. Melia shouted to the royal High Entia, "Brother!" Egil quietly said to her and the rest of the party, "Wait. Don't tell them, so the transformations can begin and we can purge the gene from them." At this moment, Reyn called out to the regal High Entia, "Kallian! Dickson! He works for the Bionis! He shot Shulk in the back!"

The regal High Entia, who Egil now knew to be called Kallian, asked Melia, "Is this true?" She nodded her head, and he said to Dickson, "Dickson! This ends here! Your Telethia are no match for our Havres squadron! You cannot win!" Brimming with smugness, Dickson responded with, "Maybe you should be concentrating on your own people instead of barking at me!" Kallian gasped, obviously having had prior knowledge of the fate of the High Entia. Dickson continued taunting them, "Looks like you've forgotten your destiny. Right, Lorithia?" In what Egil could see were fear and confusion mixed together, Kallian asked the hidden disciple, "Lorithia, are you involved with this as well?!" Laughing in her characteristically vile manner, she said, "Your Highness, your naivety is quite charming, but it is also your undoing." Green ether began to swirl around her."I had much fun playing with you and your father."

Looking around himself in horror and shock, Kallian shouted, "What is this light?" as the ether in his Havre began to break free. However, Egil noted that it was not at danger levels yet. "Just a little longer..." he thought. She responded matter-of-factly, "Ether particles emitted so that the Bionis can be destroyed and reborn." Cackling madly, she continued. "What do you get if you cross high concentrations of ether with High Entia?" Beginning to emit white light, Kallian responded, "No, you wouldn't! Lorithia!" She ignored him, and raising her left arm into the air, cried out, "**AWAKEN, MY DARLING PETS!**" The ether reached danger levels, and small globs of Telethia flesh began appearing on the Havres. They grew larger, until they completely covered the death-trap airships. The High Entia on them began to transform, including Kallian. It was at this moment that Egil, having not spoken for the longest time, took his chance.

Holding up the bottle of Mechonis ether, he cried, "Dickson! Lorithia! This "trash" will be the destruction of your "invincible" army! I've been waiting to use this for so long. Everyone!" He raised his arm, and everyone took out their bottles, aiming them at Kallian's Havre. "On my signal!" Dickson said to him, "What, you think water's going to stop a Telethia from assuming its true form?" Lorithia, on the other hand, gazed at the eight for a few seconds, before gasping in shock. With a smug look, Egil said, "This isn't water, and you can't control him yet. **NOW!**" The eight sprayed the liquid ether at the Havres holding Kallian, and it stopped emitting ether. Lorithia cried, "**NO! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!**" Egil retorted, "It is quite possible." In a mocking version of her voice, he rhetorically asked her, "What do you get if you cross high concentrations of this special Mechonis ether with a Telethia?" Returning to his normal voice, he said, "A High Entia, devoid of the Telethia gene. Try all you want, but you will not be able to transform him again."

As Kallian's and the other High Entia's transformations were nearly undone, Egil extended Meyneth's Monado, and used its power for the first time. A symbol appeared at the base of the blades' fork. Crying out, "Check this, Lorithia! Monado Enchant!" Egil pulled the Monado back, then thrust it forward, a red blade of light emerging from between the forked blades. A thin red line extended from the blade to the cloud of red Mechonis ether, giving it a defined outer border. Kallian regained consciousness and saw the red ether around him. Deep in concentration, Egil mentally pulled the bubble of ether toward him, until it was above Junks' deck, where he released it. The three High Entia fell to the deck, Kallian among them. As he ran towards Kallian, he called to anyone who could help. "Tell my father to fly the ship away, as quickly as he can!" He heard the door to Junks' interior open.

Egil ran to Kallian and said, "There is no time to save anyone else. They would grow wise to our attacks, and make the Telethia use ranged attacks instead of attacking us up close. I would not be able to save them anyway, because I need to use my Talent Art to create that red ether bubble that stopped you from falling into the ocean. We will go to Colony 6, and wait for them to meet us on terra firma. The ether itself will shield them from the fall." Having stood in shock for a few moments, as Junks began to fly away, Lorithia screamed, "**STOP THEM!**" while Dickson snickered in the background. She thrust her arm forward, ordering another Havres Telethia to shoot a laser at the fleeing Junks. As the blast approached, Egil sprayed it with more Mechonis ether, which instantly dissipated the conflicting ethers. As Junks grew out of range, Egil heard her screaming, "**NOOOOOOOO!**"

As Egil watched, Melia ran up to Kallian, embracing him. He heard Kallian say to her, "Melia, this was why you were appointed crown princess. Our father heeded the increase of Telethia escaping from the Bionis' interior, and the news of the Homs rediscovering the Monado, both signs that the Bionis was on the verge of awakening. He wanted the High Entia to have a ruler no matter what happened. Even if what Egil said is true, and my blood is no longer cursed, I do not ask you to return the title of heir to me. You have proven yourself to be fit to rule, and I believe with the entirety of my heart that you will make a fine Empress, far better than I could ever be as Emperor. You are our hope. The hope of the High Entia, the hope that we can rebuild our lives after this catastrophe." Egil turned away after this, trying some of Meyneth's Monado's passive powers.

The main thing Egil wanted was to make the Monado produce an unlimited supply of the modified Mechonis ether. It could produce normal Mechonis ether on its own, but to make it produce the special anti-Telethia Mechonis ether would be extremely helpful now that Mechonis was gone. He interfaced with the Monado for the first time, coming to a special menu, replacing the real world on his eyes. It appeared as a set of five options:

Arts  
Create Machina  
Powers  
Saved Ether Signatures  
Awaken Mechonis

Going into the Arts menu, he saw three Arts listed. The menu said:

Enchant: When out of battle, creates a bubble of Mechonis ether. All objects within said bubble will float. When in battle, blocks user and user's party's minds from being read by Telethia.  
Buster: (ONLY USABLE IN BATTLE) Extends the blade of the Monado to be extremely long, then allows user to bring it down on their foe. Deals double damage to life on Bionis and 2.5x damage to Telethia.  
Armour: When out of battle, reflects projectiles back at their sender and blocks physical attacks. When used in battle, quarters damage from all attacks for fifteen seconds.

Egil was curious about the Create Machina option. When going into it, he saw a message left for him by Meyneth. It said, "Egil, don't bother with this now, but after you defeat Zanza, please use this to create more Machina." When he selected "OK," it sent him back to the menu. Going into Powers, he saw:

Telepathy: Speak to other beings without saying a word out loud. Select this, then think about the person you wish to speak to.  
Ether Wave: Use a wave of elemental ether to affect your enemies. You can use all eight elements.

Egil saw that the Awaken Mechonis function was grayed out, so he selected Saved Ether Signatures. The description said, "Attune the Monado to various frequencies of ether, including those emitted by living beings. Saved signatures will be able to be produced by the Monado at will." This was what he was looking for. There were four options on this menu:

List of Signatures  
Look for Signature  
Produce Signature  
New Signature

Going into the list, he saw:

Mechonis Ether  
Bionis Ether (this was grayed out with a message: "Cannot be produced")  
Telethia  
Zanza  
Dickson  
Egil  
Vanea  
Linada  
Miqol  
Shulk  
Reyn  
Dunban  
Sharla  
Melia  
Riki

Egil thought, "That's nice, she added everyone's ether signatures so she could easily find anyone if they got lost or if she did." Selecting New Signature, he was prompted, "if the ether is a gas, then point the Monado at a large cloud of it. If it is a liquid, pour it onto the Monado. If the signature is emitted by a living being, point the Monado at that being." When he selected "OK," his vision returned to the real world. He took out his bottle, took the top off, and poured some of the ether onto the Monado. After 10 seconds, he returned to the Monado menu, which said "Ether signature accepted. Please enter a name." He entered the name as Anti-Telethia Ether, and it said, "Ether signature logged." He then returned to the real world, walked up to Melia and the rest of the party, as well as the three High Entia, and said, "I was able to make Meyneth's Monado produce the anti-Telethia ether. We can now create as much as we need."

Kallian sighed, and said, "That is good to hear, Egil. My trapped brothers and sisters will also be glad when they are freed. Now, we are approaching Colony 6. I believe we may need to prepare for a possible Telethia attack. Let us discuss strategy..."

They had reached Bionis, and now, they would begin undoing Zanza's bidding.


	5. Reconciliation

Junks landed in the pond of water inside the fortified (and mostly rebuilt) Colony 6. As it landed, Egil noticed an older male Homs in an orange vest walking towards the ship. He had dark skin and a white beard, and looked to be in his early sixties, if Egil remembered how Homs aged correctly. He remembered from Xord's last footage, relayed to him as the one who defeated Xord. As the man walked on to the deck, the eight of them walked out to meet him. Egil heard Dunban mutter, "I hope he takes Egil's redemption well. Otharon holds grudges for a long time..." The man, who Egil now knew to be called Otharon, asked, "Dunban, why is this ship here?" Looking at Egil and Vanea in disgust, he said to no one in particular, "You Mechon are getting pathetic. You're so scared of Shulk and the Monado now that you're trying to fool us with humanoid forms, and catch us off guard? Does this have anything to do with the Bionis moving and speaking? Wait, why is Prince Kallian here, and where's..." He was cut off when Egil spoke. "We are not exactly the same thing as Mechon. We are Machina, sentient machines born of the Mechonis. You assume that the Mechon created us, but it is in fact the other way around. Us Machina created the Mechon. You can think of us as the Mechonis equivalent of Homs."

Upon being told that the Machina created the Mechon, Otharon's expression seemed to shift from that of deep thought to that of rage. In an icily calm voice dripping with rage, he said, "So, the Mechon invasions of Bionis. You're to blame for that?" Egil responded with a guarded, "Not the Machina as a whole. Only myself." At this, Otharon's jaw seemed to clench. He continued. "The Mechon were originally helpers that we created to assist us in our daily lives. It was only after the Bionis attacked us in the Great Battle so long ago that I began converting them into weapons of war. They were only supposed to drain the Bionis of ether originally, but then they came into conflict with the Homs, and I had to modify them so they could defend themselves. Eventually, the ancient Homs drove them away, and I had to modify them more. This colony is situated above an ether river, and many of the Homs colonies were, before they fell. I intended to take the ether from the Bionis so that it wouldn't be able to awaken again. As you saw, I failed."

Otharon still seemed angry, but Egil continued. "After the ancient Homs drove the Mechon away, I worked on modifying them more. That's when I created the larger forms of Mechon, being M70s and higher. Eventually, the new Mechon were ready, and I sent them out. That was fifteen years ago. Their aim was to take the ether from the main wellpoints on the Bionis, but I also knew that the Homs would put up a fight, so I made their armor stronger. As colony after colony fell to the Mechon, I began to believe that I might be able to stop the Bionis after all. Then the Homs suddenly started putting up much more of a fight. That was over a year ago. I eventually found out why. Dunban, wielding the Monado through sheer strength of will, managed to use its power against Mechonis and drive the Mechon back to the sword, where they put up their final stand. Dunban soundly defeated them, but he suddenly stopped attacking."

Otharon finished, "And that was because he couldn't control the Monado anymore." Egil answered him. "Correct. If he had pushed the attack that day, perhaps I would have had to fight him. But, no. Two of the Homs soldiers who died in that battle were picked up by Mechon, and I was able to reconstruct their bodies with Mechon parts. Their names were Mumkhar and Xord. Mumkhar became loyal to me, because he said he hated Dunban, and wanted to kill him. However, even his actions were far too extreme as Metal Face, and I had plans to make him stop if he hadn't destroyed himself at Sword Valley. Xord had gone insane, and he also pledged loyalty to me. I know not why he developed a hunger for ether, but I also planned to stop him if you hadn't defeated him. By putting those Homs in special Mechon and running their blood through tubes on the outside, I finally made them invincible to the Monado, at least until Zanza freed it."

As Egil finished his story, Otharon asked him, "So, why did the Bionis speak when it awakened, and why did it sound like Shulk? By the way, where is he, and why is Prince Kallian here?" Egil answered, "The soul of the Bionis is called Zanza. He awakened it and spoke through it. He was residing in Shulk, and that was why Shulk was able to use Zanza's Monado. When Zanza separated from Shulk, he took on a form similar to Shulk, and that was why he sounded similar to him. Shulk is currently unconscious in the ship. Zanza killed him when the Homs retrieved his Monado, and was acting as his life force for the past fourteen years. When he separated from Shulk, he killed Shulk again, but when Zanza killed the soul of the Mechonis, Lady Meyneth, she was able to transfer some of her life force to him, and he will soon regain consciousness. Kallian saved us from Dickson's Telethia, and when Lorithia tried to turn him into a Telethia, I was able to reverse the effects with this modified version of the Mechonis' natural ether."

Otharon seemed to lose hope for a moment, and then asked, "So, High Entia turn into Telethia, and Dickson and Lorithia are traitors?" Egil answered, "Yes, Zanza uses them to kill all life on Bionis and take their ether for his own. We can save them with this modified Mechonis ether, however. Dickson shot Shulk in the back, which freed Zanza from him, and Lorithia was plotting this entire time to enhance Telethia. She created the Havres to make Telethia more powerful." Otharon finally responded, "I see. We will give the order to sound the Mechon siren if any Telethia are seen coming to attack us." Egil said to him, "Thank you, Otharon. We're on the same side now." They shook hands, and Otharon walked away.

Dunban approached Egil, saying, "You have quite a way with words, Egil. Otharon has held grudges against people for far less than what you did to him." Egil responded with, "Deflecting some of the blame onto Mumkhar and Xord certainly helped. I knew from the video feed from Xord's eyes that he was the one who finished off Xord, so I used that to my advantage." Turning to Kallian, he said to him, "I was able to make Lady Meyneth's Monado produce an unlimited supply of anti-Telethia ether, so we can free the rest of your people." Kallian's face seemed to take on a relieved expression, and he said, "That is good to hear, Egil. It is also good to hear that you didn't like what Mumkhar was doing, as he was the one who killed my father, the Emperor." Sighing, Egil said, "I only sent Mumkhar on that mission to destroy Zanza's body and stop him from freeing the Monado. Once he was done, I specifically told him to return and not engage any Bionis life, even those that attacked him. It quite angered me that he still engaged Shulk and his party after he killed Zanza's body."

Kallian seemed pleased to hear this, and said to Egil, "I am pleased to hear that you did not intend for Mumkhar to engage anyone." Speaking to the remaining people on Junks' deck after Otharon had left, he said, "I believe that even though the allied force was scattered, under my leadership, we can regroup them and use them to attack and retake Alcamoth from the Telethia. With the power of that ether, we can save the Telethia instead of having to kill them. I will speak to Otharon and Chief Dunga of the Nopon about this, and then I will return and tell you the results of our discussion." With that, he walked off in the same direction that Otharon went.

* * *

_**In a hidden lab in the High Entia Tomb, dedicated to experiments on Telethia...**_

Dickson walked through the hallway leading to the Telethia Lab, having easily dealt with the feeble security measures designed to prevent unauthorized entry. Crossing the bridge to where Lorithia was, he found her hunched over one of the computer consoles. She typed the words on the screen:

"Ether-Resistant Telethia - Trial IV  
Subject shows increasing resistance to Egil's modified Mechonis ether. Estimate that by Trial X, the subject will be completely immune."

Dickson turned to look at the "subject," a large Telethia that still had parts of the Havre that it had fused with sticking out of its back. As he watched, Lorithia pressed a button on the console. It was written in the ancient High Entia language and script, so Dickson couldn't read it, as he had never bothered to learn it. However, as he watched, the computer screen changed to show the Telethia's complete ether signature. Lorithia pressed a few keys, and the chart of the ether signature changed a small amount. She then pressed another button, which caused a nozzle to extend from the ceiling and blast the Telethia with some of Egil's Mechonis ether. As opposed to instantly changing into a High Entia, the Telethia's normal green skin changed to be blotched with red, around half red, half green. The red suddenly faded from the Telethia's skin, until it was all a vibrant green again. Lorithia entered in her notes:

"Ether-Resistant Telethia - Trial V  
Resistance is increasing. Continue as planned."

Before Lorithia could begin the sixth trial, Dickson cut into her thoughts. In a purposely condescending voice, he said, "Ah, ever the scientist, hunched over your computer. I see you've discovered a way to counteract Egil's weapon. See? No need to throw a hissy fit like you did when Junks escaped us."

In an annoyed tone, she responded. "It's not infallible. I made the mistake of underestimating Egil's mind. It can only be applied to a few Telethia in any reasonable time, and if _somehow_ Egil manages to get another powerful ether-based weapon on his side, he could use the combined power of Meyneth's Monado and the other weapon to change the signature of the Mechonis ether so it works against these Telethia as well. There's only so much you can change the ether signature of a Telethia so that other Telethia don't view it as prey, and it's not enough that they could be far enough apart to make the ether only work against one or the other."

Dickson responded, "Well, whatever. There's no weapon that's even close to the power of a Monado, so we have nothing to worry about. Heh heh heh..."

Back in Colony 6, Egil felt a vague shiver of unease run down his mechanical spine. They weren't safe yet...


	6. Dickson's New Toy

**A/N: This chapter is going to be somewhat long. I've created a plan for the rest of this fic, so you might be able to expect longer chapters now. The plan has 17 chapters listed, but if a chapter ends up getting too long (above roughl 4K words because I average 2K per chapter), I might split it in half. Alternately, if a planned chapter ends up being too short, I will fuse it with the next chapter. This is to avoid filler. I'll tell you if this happens, and the chapter halves will be uploaded together. I will not let this fic die. Don't worry. Now, enjoy this long, long chapter!**

* * *

Egil had begun to grow nervous. It had been three days since their arrival in Colony 6, and he had expected the Telethia to attack within a few hours of their arrival, at most within a day. But, no. Three days had passed, and there had still been no sign of any Telethia activity anywhere outside Eryth Sea. He had been busy, hooking up a network of sentry Mechon all around Bionis to send signals to the Colony 6 alarm systems. If they detected any Telethia going anywhere farther down on Bionis than Eryth Sea, they would send a signal to the command center, which would put the Defense Force troops on alert. If it turned out to be a false alarm, and the Telethia turned back before going past Makna Forest, the Mechon would transmit a signal that the coast was clear. However, if the Telethia didn't turn back, and went farther down than the forest, the Mechon would send a signal which would activate Siren 2, the Mechon (or now Telethia) siren. So far, there had been two alerts, but no sirens.

Reyn, Dunban, Egil, Melia, Alvis (who Egil could sense something was off about), Miqol, Kallian, a large gray-furred Nopon with a massive plume of lavender-colored hair who Egil assumed was their leader, Otharon, and a Homs boy called Juju had gathered in Junks' cockpit to discuss strategy in the case of a Telethia attack. Otharon began by saying, "After the Bionis awakened, we assumed it was only a matter of time before Telethia came to attack Colony 6. However, we did not expect them to wait three days. They must be planning something. Egil, who don't you get us up to speed on the early-warning system you've created?" Egil responded, "Thank you, Otharon. I have created a network of sentry Mechon around the Bionis to watch for Telethia activity. Any activity below Eryth Sea puts the Defense Force on alert, and anything below Makna Forest activates the siren that used to be for Mechon. Otharon, how have you been preparing Colony 6 for the inevitable attack?"

Otharon replied, "I have held a briefing for the officers below me in the Defense Force. They will give my orders to their troops. We have also given everyone who is to fight a bottle of the Mechonis ether. In addition to this, Prince Kallian and myself have relocated all of Alcamoth's refugees to Colony 6. They're safer here than they would be out in the wild. They would be no match for any Telethia if they were caught defenseless out there." As he was speaking, Dunban began to look at the floor. He finally said, "I've been thinking about how ironic it is. We want to escape from Zanza, but we can't leave his body, the Bionis." Reyn looked at him with a concerned expression, before saying, "Well, this is our home." Turning to Melia, Otharon asked her, "Princess, I have to know. Should we be worried about the evacuated High Entia?" She replied, "I cannot be sure, but I believe not. All those who survived are part Homs like me. If they ever do transform, I will be among them. If that time comes, you know what to do."

Evidently surprised by this, Otharon asked in a low tone, "Are you sure?" She responded, "Everyone is obliged to accept their fate." At this, Reyn seemed to grow incensed, and said, "No way! There's no way Kallian and your father would have left the fate of High Entia to you if that was gonna happen! They didn't know Egil was working on the Telethia spray! For all they knew, you would have been the only one who could lead the High Entia after the Bionis woke up!" "Precisely," Dunban added. "And Melia, if we are to survive, we must fight Zanza and the Telethia. It may not be the case with all of them, but a large number of Telethia were once High Entia - your subjects and your brethren. We must know what we should do with the freed High Entia if we are in a hostile area." It was at this moment that Egil, who was listening to them, responded. "Dunban, do you remember that I can create and summon Mechon from anywhere? I will design a new form of the M60-series Mechon that can carry people without harming them. They will also have jets to allow them to fly their passenger back to a safe area."

Dunban seemed pleased by this development, and asked Egil, "How long will it take you to create this Mechon?" He replied, "Not more than a few hours. I should have it ready by this evening." "Well then," Dunban replied, "It seems like we have easily solved that problem. Imagine if you hadn't come with us. I'm sure Melia would have been distraught at having to slay her brethren." Egil responded with, "We can all thank Lady Meyneth for that. She was the one who snapped me out of the notion of sacrificing myself." At that moment, Fiora and Sharla came in from the hallway, and Reyn asked them, "How's Shulk?" It was Fiora who responded, "He's going to make it. His wound has closed. I think Meyneth used the last of her power to protect him." Egil responded, "You are correct. When Meyneth spoke to me and told me to go with you, she said she transferred some of her life force to him." Reyn asked her, "So he's okay?" Sharla nodded, and added, "Linada is tending to him now." Seeing the worried expression on Fiora's face, Melia asked her, "What is wrong, Fiora?"

She sighed, before saying, "He won't wake up. It's like his consciousness has sunk to the bottom of a cold, dark lake. I keep saying his name, but he doesn't respond." In response to this, Reyn muttered, "Zanza's gonna pay for this..." The Homs boy called Juju asked in a worried tone, "What if the Telethia attack?" Otharon responded to him, "Then we'll have to fight without Shulk. That's why we've strengthened our defenses." "That replica of the Monado I made should come in handy as well," Miqol added. In a determined tone, Reyn proclaimed, "We're backed into a corner, but we'll give it all we got." Looking at Reyn, Alvis asked him, and by extension everyone, "Can your resistance truly achieve anything?" Everyone in the room turned to look at him, expressions ranging from shock and disbelief to pure, unbridled rage. Reyn asked him, "What do you mean by that, Alvis?" He responded, "Exactly what I said. We were all born of the Bionis, of Zanza. It is Zanza's will that the Telethia return us to the body from whence we came. Whether we die of old age or in battle, we all eventually return to the Bionis. We cannot escape this fate. Am I wrong?"

"You've got it backwards, man!" Reyn replied. "Just 'cause he thinks it, doesn't make it so! We decide whether to keep living or not!" Dunban added, "I agree! Even though he is our creator, that doesn't afford him the right to take our lives on a whim!" "But that is the thinking of a Homs," Alvis pointed out. "He is a god. Such morals cannot apply to gods." Reyn retorted, "So you think we should just shut up and die?!" Alvis responded, "If that is the fate decided by a god..." In a manner that Egil could only describe as disgust with Alvis' apparent defeatism, Dunban declared to him in no uncertain terms, "You are mistaken if you think we will simply accept such a fate and wait to die." Evidently glad that Dunban had backed him up, Reyn added, "We'll never stop fighting, not 'till the end!" Still remaining cool, Alvis replied, "To Zanza, the outcome is the same. Thus, your logic is flawed."

Unmoved by Alvis' cool head, Reyn retorted, "It ain't the outcome that's important. It's the will to fight back!" With a strangely smug look, Alvis asked him, "Even if you die in vain?" Losing his cool, Reyn yelled at Alvis, "Whose side are you on, Alvis? You scared or something? Frightened of a few Telethia?" Otharon stopped him from saying more by interjecting, "Stop this! What's the point in fighting amongst ourselves?" Reyn made a noise somewhere between a groan and a Feris' growl. At this moment, Fiora held her hand to where Meyneth's Monado had been. Noticing this, Egil asked her, "Fiora, are you okay without Lady Meyneth's Monado on your chest?" She sighed, and said to him, "No. The energy from the Monado is what made my body work, and now it's separated from me. I don't think it's possible to transfer energy, either. I still have some energy in reserve, but when that runs out..."

Egil held up his hand, and told her, "No, Fiora, it is completely possible to transfer energy from the Monado to your body. I should be able to create a device that takes the Monado's energy and stores it. If I can create a device that's similar enough to the chestplate, it should be able to transfer that energy to you. It would only be a temporary measure, but we could at least take away the worrying until we can find a better solution. By the way, what are your energy levels like right now?" She looked at him in a way that conveyed an immense gratitude. Hesitating, she said, "My levels are at 20%. When Meyneth separated from me, they were at 23%. So, I can go twenty days before I need to recharge. Can you create something like what you said in that much time?" "That's much more time than I need," Egil replied. "It shouldn't take more than a day for me to make it. I also do have another thing to build, and that's the special Mechon to save High Entia. Would you be all right if I made that first?"

"Yes, that's fine," she said to him. She walked back to return to Shulk. Otharon opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a recording of himself. The third alert in as many days had begun. "Citizens of Colony 6, as well as refugees from Alcamoth, I must warn you that Egil's network of sentry Mechon has spotted Telethia venturing below Eryth Sea. As such, the colony is being placed on alert. If the Telethia return to Eryth Sea, the alert will be called off. If they venture below Makna Forest, the siren that was formerly used to warn of Mechon attacks will sound." When the recording ended, Otharon was finally able to speak. "Well, I see that we must prepare for a Telethia attack. Egil will also be busy, so I call this meeting to an end." Egil went outside with the others, and began practicing his reaction time to an attacking Telethia with a spray bottle filled with water.

After around five minutes, another recording of Otharon played. "Citizens of Colony 6, and refugees from Alcamoth, the Telethia have returned to Eryth Sea. The alert is now over." Walking over to Dunban, who was nearby, he said, "I don't know what Dickson is trying to do with this. Why not just attack us already? I never did anything like this." Dunban replied, "He's trying to psyche us out. He knows about your sentry network, and is trying to lull everyone into a false sense of security, to regain the element of surprise when he finally does attack. We can't let him have that element of surprise."

Returning to Junks' deck, Egil began work on the new Mechon model. He started by creating a base prototype of the M60-series Mechon without any weapons attached to its arms. He created a larger version of the grabbing arm to allow for the High Entia to be safe inside and to not be harmed, because this Mechon was designed to save lives, rather than take them. The arm still had the basic structure of a telescoping flower, but it was twice as large, with two "petals" instead of three to allow for easier boarding. The panels were also padded on the inside with the latest Machina shock-absorbing material. After designing the arm in his mind, he created it like he had created the Mechon, and attached it to the Mechon's arm socket. Finally, he created a miniature flight engine and hooked it to the back of the Mechon.

With the creation of the Mechon prototype done, Egil needed to write its code. He was able to do it through thoughts, as he was a machine himself, albeit a sapient one. This made it come much more naturally to him than it would to any life of Bionis. He began by accessing the Mechon's central control unit.

The code read like this:  
"Mechon M62 High Entia Saver (M62HES)  
If M62HES sees 'High Entia', initiate 'Ether Wavelength scan' function.  
Ether Wavelength Scan Function: scan ether wavelength of High Entia.  
If genetics are 'HALF-HOMS', leave the High Entia alone.  
If genetics are 'PURE-BLOOD - PURGED', initiate recording and switch arm to 'open' position.  
If High Entia chooses 'NO', leave them alone and close arm.  
If High Entia chooses 'YES', allow High Entia to climb into arm, close it and return to location 'Colony 6.'"

Egil added the wavelengths of a half-blood High Entia and a purged pure-blood High Entia, as well as the location of Colony 6. He started the recording, saying, "If you are seeing this recording, you have been saved from your state as a Telethia by a modified version of the Mechonis' natural ether. It has also made you immune to being transformed into a Telethia again. This Mechon is specially designed to save High Entia that have been put in your position. It can fly you back to Colony 6. Do you want to go there? Answer 'yes' or 'no.'" Saving the code, he activated the Mechon. It looked at him, saw that he wasn't a High Entia, and looked away. By now, it was almost sunset. The Telethia were less active during the night, so they weren't preparing for an attack until the next day.

Walking over to Melia with the Mechon, he said to her, "I have completed the Mechon model, Melia. I need to test it to make sure its code works. Would you be willing to let it run its protocol on you?" She nodded assent, and Egil activated the Mechon. It looked at her, determining she was a High Entia. It ran a scanner similar to the ones in the High Entia Tomb over her. Determining that she was half-Homs, it turned away. Egil said to her, "I'm glad it works. Thank you, Melia." He walked away, his next objective to find Kallian so he could test the Mechon with a purged pure-blood High Entia.

Kallian was speaking to Otharon and Juju near Reconstruction HQ. As Egil approached him, he said to Otharon, "Hold on for a moment, Otharon. I think Egil needs to speak with me." Egil asked him, "I have completed the Mechon prototype, but I need to test its code with a pure-blooded High Entia to make sure it responds to the situation correctly. It has no weapons, so there is no need to worry about it malfunctioning and attacking us. Could you help me with it?" Kallian said to Juju and Otharon, "Are you all right with me helping Egil? It shouldn't take too long." They both nodded, and Egil summoned the Mechon. It examined him with beady red eyes, deciding that he was a High Entia. It ran a scanner similar to the ones in the High Entia Tomb over him. After seeing that he was a pure-blooded High Entia, it opened its arm, playing the recording of Egil. Kallian selected "YES," climbing into the arm. The Mechon closed it, flying up above the colony, before flying back down in front of the Reconstruction HQ, opening its arm again.

Uncharacteristically, Kallian climbed out of the arm with a massive grin on his face. He said, "I have always enjoyed riding on High Entia airships, so I quite enjoyed that. I assume from it landing back here that it works?" Egil nodded. "All right, then." The prince returned to his discussion with Juju and Otharon. The next thing Egil needed to do was construct the Monado energy device, but he was interrupted by the recording of Otharon putting the colony on alert. He returned to Junks, ready if the unusually-timed warning actually meant a Telethia attack was coming.

Everyone had nervously gathered in Junks, waiting. They were all prepared to save the colony, and save as many of the High Entia as possible. After only ten minutes, which felt like hours, a new recording of Otharon played, along with the former Mechon siren. "The Telethia have gone past Makna Forest. Everyone in the colony must prepare for an attack. All civilians should go to secure bunkers, whereas the Defense Force will be ready to defend the colony." The party, as well as Kallian and Vanea, ran to the entrance, bottles of Mechonis ether in hand, as several dozen Telethia flew above, tinted orange by the setting sun. A familiar figure sat atop a Havre-fused Telethia, which was covered in armor plating and shone a bright green as opposed to the other Telethia and their dull green color. "Dickson!" Dunban echoed everyone's non-shock at Dickson leading the attack. He tauntingly said back, "Glad to see me?" Clearly not having any of Dickson's taunting, Reyn yelled, "Shut up!"

Egil was suspicious. He shouted to Dickson, "Why are you the only disciple here? Where's Lorithia?" Stroking the back of a smaller Telethia that had landed next to him, Dickson said to him, "Lorithia says she has better things to do, but I think she still hasn't fully recovered from the hissy-fit she had after you 'saved' that High Entia's big bro. Got to hand it to you, Egil. You're a formidable foe. Not that it will matter soon enough, though." Melia had had enough, and screamed to him, "Egil did save my brother. **You monsters tried to take away his intelligence and turn him into your slave, all under the pretense of it being his destiny, and I do not doubt that you would have claimed that my protests were merely me misunderstanding, as if I was some naive little child!**"

Sighing, Dickson taunted her, "Save your anger for Lorithia, **half-blood trash**. She's the one who would say something like that. I follow Lord Zanza like she does, but I don't do it out of devotion, but out of how fun it is! I'm having the time of my life here! Whereas you, you're nothing but a feeble, disgusting, mutated Telethia that's too riddled with impurities to even take on her proper form!" Addressing the party, he asked, "Why not just lay down and give up? It'll be much easier for all of us that way." Fuming with all the pent-up rage of eighty-eight years of being taunted for her heritage, she asked him a rhetorical question, stated in a calm yet icily deadly tone. "**If I am impure for being half-Homs, then what are you? A pile of hypocritical trash, festering for all to see!**"

Deciding that Melia and Dickson's spat had gone on long enough, Egil stepped in. "Melia, he is pure trash, but despite how much of a pile of scum he is, one thing he is not is a hypocrite. He is not a Homs. He is a giant, just like my old friend Arglas." Melia asked him, "Arglas? Is that your friend that you said was possessed by Zanza?" Shouting to Dickson, she said, "If you are a giant, then why not show your true face?" "Because I would wipe the floor with you in that form, and I want a decent fight! This has gone on long enough." Pushing the small Telethia he had been stroking off the back of the bright green Havre Telethia with the sole of his boot, he told it, "Go get them!" As it flew towards them, Egil readied his spray bottle, hitting it as it raised one of its wings to attack him.

Writhing in pain, the Telethia began to emit red light, before glowing white and shrinking into the form of a young High Entia boy, not more than forty years old. The child fell to the ground, and Egil told him, "Get inside the colony, now!" The boy nodded his head, before running to join Juju, who was standing just inside the entrance. Dickson seemed frustrated, before saying, "I forgot about that spray, but no matter. Let's see how you do against this one!" The bright green armored Havre Telethia flew down, and before it attacked, Egil said to the party, "The spray will be ineffective unless we knock off its armor. It needs a wide area of the Telethia to be exposed to work. When I say to use the spray, then use it. Not a moment sooner."

The Telethia began by swinging one of its wings at them like a razor blade. Egil blocked the attack with Meyneth's Monado, and began collecting ether in his hands. Condensing it into a roughly foot-wide blue sphere, he held it above his head, shouting, "Seal the skills of my enemies! Grand Ether Bullet!" before throwing it at the Telethia The energy coated it, preventing it from using its normal Arts and knocking several pieces of armor off. It countered by using its Talent Art, Big Bang. The large beam of ether hit Egil, doubling his vision and making him as close as a machine could get to dizzy.

Fiora came up to him, snapping him out of the confusion by saying, "Don't give up, Egil!" He responded with, "Fiora, you can't lose hope now!" Fiora smugly said to the Telethia, and by extension, Dickson, "See how you like this...Final Cross!" It pushed the Telethia on its side, knocking more armor off in the process, and Egil began collecting ether as if to use Grand Ether Bullet, but then put his arms in front of him and thrust his hands forward, shouting, "Daze all those who stand in our way! Grand Ether Wave!"

When hit by the wave of blue ether, the Telethia seemed to become dizzy. More armor was knocked off, as well, and Egil cried, "Now! Use the spray!" Everyone unloaded spray after spray into the weakpoint. The red haze cleared, leaving not three High Entia soldiers, but a very angry and confused Telethia, half blotched with red. As they stood there in shock, the red blotching faded until it was nonexistent. Dickson was positively cackling with glee on top of a serpent-shaped Telethia, and he said, "Looks like that spray isn't as powerful as you thought. Lorithia has been laboring on this one for days. That's what took us so long to attack." Reeling from the revelation, Egil didn't hear Dickson tell the Telethia, "Now! Use Soul Read, and finish them off for good!"

All he heard was his conscience asking the question, "What in Lady Meyneth's name have you unleashed?"

**TO BE CONTINUED...**

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**A/N: Two things. First, I decided to split this chapter in half, because it was proving to be too long and I didn't want to keep working on it any longer. **

**Second, I noticed that a certain Xenotuber had said that Egil was irredeemable. I could not disagree more. His main argument was that turning the Homs into Mechon was what made him irredeemable. He turned the Homs into Mechon because he was doing what he had to do to counter the Monado, and he saved them from death too. He was just delusional about how to go about defeating Zanza. Grief does those things to a person. With that, I eagerly await reviews, and I might even mention you in the next A/N. **

**Have a great day, waluigifan20**


	7. The Disowned Heir's Return

**A/N: This chapter will also likely be long. I will exercise my best judgement in splitting chapters.**

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"What in Lady Meyneth's name have you unleashed?" That was what Egil asked himself at this moment. The bright green Havre Telethia had proven impervious to the ether, and everyone had been shocked by the revelation. Egil was snapped out of the introspective trance by the Telethia's antennae beginning to glow, signifying it had used Soul Read. Sure enough, Egil's attacks were easily dodged. Still madly cackling, Dickson taunted Egil with, "Not so invincible without the spray, ain't that the truth? This is the end, Egil, **_my dear friend_**."

Saying the last part of that mockingly, he waved his hand, obviously an order to the Telethia, as it began readying another Art, Obliterate. The Telethia spun in a circle, knocking Egil and everyone around him onto the ground. Dickson made another motion with his hands, and the Telethia began readying Big Bang once more. Egil knew this would be a finishing blow. Just as the sun was setting, so too was their hope. He prepared for the seemingly inevitable, but before the Telethia could unleash the deadly beam, he heard Melia's voice cry, "We will never give in!" and a wave of gold ether seemed to wash over the Telethia. Losing its concentration, the ether the Telethia had gathered to use Big Bang dissipated into the air.

Huffing, Dickson made a beckoning motion with his arm, and said to the Telethia, "C'mere. I'll soften 'em up first, then you can finish 'em off." Like a child called by their parents away from playing with their toys, the Telethia seemed to begrudgingly float up until it sat beside Dickson's serpent-shaped one. As if on cue, five of the square-shaped Telethia descended from the horde. Dunban was the first to react, instantly nailing one with the spray, its body turning red, then glowing white, then turning into a older High Entia man, easily in his mid-200s. He fell to the ground, getting up and running to the gate without having to be told where to go. Dunban got two more, and Riki hit a fourth, but the fifth got past them and charged at Egil, who only got it just in time. The freed High Entia all ran to the gate.

Eight smaller Telethia had descended to the ground. Three hung back, shooting green lasers at everyone, while Riki ran towards them to distract and then free them. Another five were rushing at the party, but were trapped in place when Melia used Shadow Stitch. Fiora and Melia got all five between the two of them. It soon became a pattern: Telethia attacks, everyone hits it, the freed High Entia runs to the gate to join the growing crowd there. The mindless action gave Egil time to realize something terrible.

_How come they know where to go?_ There was no way they could have all realized where to go if they were unconscious as Telethia. They would have been confused, as most of them had never even left Eryth Sea, let alone went all the way down to Colony 6. But yet they knew. There was only one explanation, and it was an awful one. The High Entia must have all been completely conscious of all the awful things they were doing when they were Telethia. Slaughtering innocent animals, killing their friends and family. The ones that were part of the Bionite Order must have enjoyed it, knowing they were serving the Bionis, but it must have been truly awful for the others. That was the reason they knew where to go. They must have heard Egil tell the kid. There was no time for Egil to dwell on this, however, as he was snapped out of his thoughts by Reyn telling Juju, "The only Monado we need is Meyneth's. Forget about Zanza's, kid. The more space between us and him, the better."

Sharla cast a Heal Round, saying in jest, "If Reyn's got time to sound off, we must be doing okay!" He replied, "We are doing okay!" Hitting two more Telethia, Dunban said while hitting a third, "Reyn is correct! Perhaps we relied too much on Zanza's Monado...and Shulk." Fiora responded, "Right. We've chosen to fight the Bionis. We have to manage on our own." As more Telethia poured into the battleground to replace the freed ones, Dickson laughed at their situation. "Look at them struggle. Ha! If they can't handle a few Telethia, how do they expect to defeat me?" Dunban, tired from wave after wave of Telethia, seemed to gain resolve from some deep corner of his heart, and cried, "This is **NOT** the end!"

A humanoid Telethia flew towards Dunban from behind, trying to clobber him with one of its paws. Fiora noticed, crying out his name and running in front of him, trying to block with her swords. When the attack hit her sword, the force behind it launched her screaming through the air. Dunban ran towards her, blocking a kick attack from the same Telethia with the blunt side of his sword. Their strengths fought, before Reyn launched himself at it and knocked it away with his gunlance, before hitting it with the ether. Reyn asked Dunban, "Are you okay?" He replied between tense breaths, "I just...overdid it...Fiora?" He bent down to speak to her, and she told him, "I'm okay. I can still fight."

Dickson's ceaseless taunting made them turn to him. "Why're you bothering to try and cover it up? Go on, just admit you've had enough!" Outraged at the thought of giving up, Reyn growled, "Never!" Sharla cried, "Look out!" Riki added, "Lots of Dinobeasts!" Three Gigas Telethia dropped out of the sky, and backed the party up into a circle around Fiora, who still lay on the ground. Dunban quietly said, "It truly seems as though everything is going as Zanza planned." Everyone looked at him in shock, especially Egil. If even Dunban, the most determined left among them, felt defeated, how could they go on? Then, he continued. "But, our hearts and minds...they still hold the will to seize our own destiny."

Looking at Dickson with a mixture of defiance and hatred, Dunban pointed his sword at Dickson, and proclaimed, "No matter how hard you try to break us, the future is ours to shape, Dickson! Always!" Dickson smugly and exasperatedly responded, "When will you learn you have no future? Face it, your destiny is to die here!" Dunban responded by grabbing his bottle of ether and nailing all three of the Gigas Telethia. Dickson made a motion with his hand, and the invincible Havre Telethia descended once more. It began readying Big Bang again, only this time, Melia was not in Burst mode and couldn't interrupt it with the knockback from Mind Blast. Everyone stared at the Telethia and their seemingly inevitable doom. No doubt, they were thinking about their failure and wishing it could have gone differently, Egil thought.

Egil, however, was not staring at the Telethia. He was looking past it to the Colony 6 gate. A silhouette had left it and was running towards the battle. Egil had **never** been so happy to see that silhouette. His blade lit up blue, cutting through the gathering darkness of dusk, and with a loud battle cry, Shulk sliced the Telethia across the face, stopping it from using Big Bang. Fiora cried out his name in happiness, and Melia said, "Thank goodness you're here!" Dickson hissed in anger and fear, shouting, "Damn kid! So, you're still alive!" He shouted to the horde, "Attack! Destroy them!"

Two square Telethia shot lasers from their mouths, while two humanoid Telethia charged at Shulk. One shot a laser blast at him, which he dodged with seemingly superhuman reflexes. He slashed both of the Telethia across the legs, enough to incapacitate them, but not kill them. Two blasts of Egil's Mechonis ether later, they returned to their High Entia forms unharmed. Shulk looked back at the party, before walking towards them. Reyn told him, "That was awesome!" He replied, "Sorry for worrying you all." Fiora walked up to him, gratefully saying, "Shulk...welcome back." An outraged Dickson shouted, "Little brat! What's he gone and done now?" Fiora's armor began to glow with Meyneth's power at the spot her Monado had been.

"Time for me to get my hands dirty..." Dickson jumped from the serpent Telethia to the Havre Telethia, and it charged at Shulk, seemingly as fast as light itself. Before anyone could react, Shulk glowed with the blue aura of Zanza, and the Telethia's attack bounced off harmlessly. Deep in concentration, Shulk extended the shield that the aura had formed to cover everyone, forcing back the Telethia and an incredulous Dickson. Releasing his concentration, he strode over to Egil, saying, "I know a way to save that Telethia. If we hold our Monados together, we should be able to change the signature of the Mechonis ether so it can affect both types of Telethia." He activated his replica, and Egil activated Meyneth's. They held them up in the air, and channeled the power into a glowing purple sphere. It grew larger and larger, until it flew into the base of Meyneth's Monado.

Egil changed the ether in his and everyone's bottles by attuning the frequencies to the new one set by Meyneth's Monado. At this point, the shield broke, and Dickson taunted, "Are you finally ready to fight me? Or have you decided to give up?" Shulk spoke in a calm but decisive voice. "We'll never give in to Zanza." Dickson told him, "Well then, it's about time for your final lesson. Show me what you've got! You think you've got the power to defeat Lord Zanza? And you, Egil! Show me what Meyneth's Monado is made of!"

Willing Meyneth's Monado to activate Buster, he felt the red blade grow to an immense length, and with a cry of, "You asked for it, Dickson! Feel the wrath of my people! Monado Buster!" he brought it down on the Telethia. The Telethia was thrown through the air, hitting the wall of Colony 6 and making Dickson cry out in pain and shock. With a growl of frustration, Dickson ordered the Telethia to use Obliterate. Egil willed the Monado to save them, making its blade turn blue. Spinning it in a circle, he proclaimed, "Divine barrier, save us! Monado Armour!" A huge sphere composed of blue hexagons surrounded Egil, and a blue ether shield appeared around everyone, making Obliterate bounce off harmlessly. While the Telethia was stunned, Egil activated the in-battle Enchant. The blade turned yellow, Egil spun it in a circle, and a yellow mist enveloped everyone's weapons.

The battle dragged on, the Telethia seeming to steadily grow weaker and weaker, until one well-placed Stream Edge from Shulk knocked it off balance. Reyn followed up with a Wild Down, and Dunban kept the Telethia knocked down with Steel Strike. As Dickson jumped off the Telethia and onto the ground, Egil saw his chance. He gathered up ether, and threw his hands forward for Grand Ether Wave, dazing the Telethia. As it roared in rage, he sprayed it directly in the mouth, hitting it at least ten times with jets of the new Mechonis ether. It writhed in pain, before turning red, then glowing, turning pure white, and shrinking to a tiny point of light, which expanded and then dissipated to reveal the High Entia.

The High Entia was not one that Egil recognized. Nobody recognized him, not even Melia or Kallian. He appeared to be a young man, likely in his early hundreds. He shook his head, obviously confused, before running to the gate, where none of the High Entia there seemed to recognize him, either. As this was going on, Dickson had been fuming with rage and frustration, barely audibly muttering, "That brat...how could he read my movements? What the hell's going on?" Returning to their group, Reyn asked Shulk, "How'd you do it without the Monado? Block that Telethia's attack and make that shield, I mean?" To Egil's complete shock, he said, "I could see it - the future. I don't have the Monado, but it came to me, Reyn, from within. I suppose the shield was a result of the power I used to block that attack. Perhaps...Zanza left some of his power in me."

Reyn seemed elated, and exclaimed, "Nice one! Looks like we're back in business!" Clearly angered, Dickson said, "Tch. Bunch of ingrates. Oi! Stop hiding and get yourself out here! I don't appreciate being left to do all the hard work, Alvis!" Dunban looked behind himself in shock, and whispered, "No, it can't be..." Reyn muttered in dismay, "Alvis? Not you too..." Smirking, Dickson remarked, "Yeah, another one of Lord Zanza's faithful. One of the Trinity." In disbelief, Sharla cried out, "No! How can he be one of them?!" Evidently feeling betrayed, Melia called to him, "Alvis! Is this the only reason you served under my family? You traitor!" Reyn looked about ready to attack him, and yelled, "Oi, say something!"

Holding the replica Monado in front of Reyn, Shulk told them, "Leave it. It doesn't matter what he is. That doesn't change anything at all, does it, Alvis?" Raising his arm, Alvis said, "Yes, precisely. You must find your own path to the future." The motions of his arm must have been a signal, for a very familiar Telethia descended from the horde. It resembled a bird, with a large bill, powerful legs, and two long wings. He had never seen any other Telethia take this form, and so he had to conclude that this Telethia was his long-lost High Entia friend from before Zanza had possessed Arglas, Lum'ter. He had been forced to fight Lum'ter in this form, so he knew that he would be no pushover. His thoughts were cut short by Reyn angrily shouting, "So you're just another one of Zanza's lapdogs."

Egil explained, "This Telethia is no ordinary Telethia. It can control the weather, and summon lightning strikes. I knew the High Entia that became this Telethia, and his name was Lum'ter. It will take some time to weaken him before we can return him to his High Entia form." Dunban said, "Acknowledged, Egil. Let's go." Alvis smirked, and said, "Very well. Let us see that will to survive." He pointed his arm directly at Egil, and the Telethia flew at him, ready to kick him. Egil raised Meyneth's Monado to block it, but the Telethia stopped in its tracks, and instead went to attack Shulk. Shulk jumped above the Telethia, slashing its face on the way up. Roaring in anger, it began flapping its wings. The sky turned gray, and Shulk's eyes glowed blue. When the lightning hit, Shulk jumped out of the way. Before the Telethia could attack again, he ran behind it and unleashed a Back Slash.

The Telethia began gathering ether along its crest, and it formed a solid blade. It swung its head down, narrowly averting hitting Egil, instead hitting Riki. Riki seemed angered by this, and said, "Oooh, now you make Riki mad! **RIKI VERY ANGRY! **Roly-poly, keep on rolling!" He swung his biter in a circle, dark purple ether gathering around it, before sending the ball of ether at the Telethia. It hit, knocking the Telethia to the ground. Seeing the weakness, Egil gathered ether in his hands, before unleashing Grand Ether Wave, making the Telethia dizzy. Egil hit it with the spray. It turned red, then glowed white, before shrinking into a small sphere of light, which dissipated to reveal Lum'ter. He had long wings, was dressed in cerulean and gray armor with silver highlights, and looked to be about 125 years old.

He got up, looking around in confusion, before Egil said, "Lum'ter! Go to the gate, and we will talk after!" He nodded, and ran to join the growing group of High Entia. Reyn, still simmering with rage, yelled, "That all you got? Not so tough without the Telethia, are you?" Alvis laughed to himself, which seemed to anger Reyn even more. He yelled, "I'll show you the will to survive!" and ran at him. Dickson pointed his rifle at Reyn, but when he shot, Shulk was able to block the ether bullet with his sword, and it dissipated harmlessly. Annoyed, Dickson grumbled, "Tch, meddling kids." Unfazed, Alvis said to Shulk, "I have seen your will to fight. It is time for both you and Egil to decide. What do you say? Does this world belong to you, or to Zanza? Well?"

Obviously not caring, Dickson added, "Either way's good with me, but I wonder what Zanza would say about it." Alvis' reply surprised Egil. He said, "He desires the same, and he sees everything, as you see, Shulk." Dickson agreed, "It's like he says." He jumped onto the back of the serpent Telethia, Alvis jumping onto the back of another Telethia. Reyn cried, "Get back here!" Ignoring him, Alvis asked Shulk, "You understand, don't you, Shulk?" A red spark appeared in the center of Egil's vision, before it grew to cover the entirety of it. Shocked, Egil saw, tinged in Mechonis red, Prison Island sinking into Eryth Sea, and the party of eight facing Dickson in his giant form atop Prison Terrace. He looked to his left and saw Shulk, who turned to face him. They nodded to each other in understanding, Egil realizing that this was what visions were like.

When the vision faded, Shulk said to Alvis, "Yeah, you can bet on it." Alvis told everyone, "We'll be waiting." "We'll be on our best behavior," Dickson smugly added. Shulk responded with an equal level of determination, "And we will be the best guests you've ever had." Before leaving earshot, Dickson told him, "Ahhh, that's quite a good comeback! I'm impressed! **DON'T KEEP ME WAITING!**"

Out of Egil's earshot, Dickson's arm began to shake with unexpected fear. Holding it steady, he muttered incredulously, "I'm trembling. Me. Stupid, meddling kid. I had everything ready to finally eliminate that troublesome Egil, but no..." Laughing to himself, he said, "After all these years, I never thought the day would come when I would feel fear."

When thinking about Alvis' defection, Egil realized that it all made sense. From what the party had told him, Alvis could see the future, just like Shulk. Although he had a different name and a different body, his behavior, manner of speech, and visions all matched up with Zanza's third disciple, whom Egil had thought lost after the Great Battle. Just like him, Alvis could see the future, was a Homs who had served the High Entia royal family, and almost always kept a cool head. However, unlike the other two disciples, he had seemed odd. He almost seemed to Egil like a Machina trapped in a Homs body, except everything about him was dialed up to the point where he blurred the line between the sentience of a Machina and an AI. At other times, however, he seemed perfectly normal.

Furthermore, Alvis had never personally wronged him. Dickson had hated Egil from the moment he met him, even before Egil knew of his malice. As soon as Arglas had introduced him to Dickson, he had been rude to Egil. Lorithia had taunted him when Lum'ter had been turned into a Telethia, and had forced him to attack Egil. However, Alvis had never done much of anything, merely advising Zanza on how to proceed. Egil would have to see if he could find out more information. Perhaps he could look in the records once Alcamoth had been retaken?

What Egil did know was that they had scored a major victory today, and he had saved one of his dearest friends. Perhaps he could finally take his revenge, two and a half thousand years in the making. Perhaps the peoples of Bionis and Mechonis could finally depart for the stars. Perhaps they could finally seize their destiny.

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**A/N: Well, it's here! Chapter 7 of Revenge, Taken! By the way, I do have other accounts under the same name. Yes, they are me, so feel free to follow them if you want. **

**Have a great day, waluigifan20**


	8. The Next Move

**A/N: I got the idea to make this chapter from the scene in Xenoblade 2 Chapter 6 with the meeting in Indol. If you've just found this after it's done, please ignore this note. Also, my school got closed for four weeks because of...well, I'm sure you know, so I might be able to get some chapters in, which is a ray of light in these dark times. **

**I've also started writing this on my laptop computer, which has a quieter keyboard than my old desktop. I'm also doing it up in my bedroom, so those should minimize the risk of my parents finding out about this. If they knew I write fanfics, they wouldn't care, but I'd probably die from embarrassment.**

**If this is the Mind Blast from Melia that stopped the Telethia from killing everyone in the last chapter, then Shulk returning is XENOBLADE DEFINITIVE EDITION! ****If you don't know or have been living under a rock for these past few weeks, it's been rated and it's been put on the European eShop! We might not have to wait much longer, but I'd just expect a tweet confirming the release date like with Mario Maker 2, now that the Direct rumors have been squashed. Alternately, we might get a shadowdrop Direct tomorrow like with the Labo presentation and everything I say will be invalidated.**

**I'm also trying to be nicer to anyone who reads this on mobile, so I'll try to eliminate the huge walls of text. Paragraphs will be shorter and easier to read from now on. I've also decided on how I will use American and British English. When it's simply me narrating, I will use American English, and when a character is speaking, I will use British English.  
**

**Because of the uncertainty about how we will reach Eryth Sea in the remake, I'm opting to make the method that they will use to reach Alcamoth something that won't be invalidated no matter what happens. You'll see soon...anyway, I've talked long enough. I'll stop talking and get to the story.  
**

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**Three days later...**

Pushing the nervousness aside at the veiled threat Dickson had given, Egil began to prepare for the upcoming meeting. It would be between the leaders of the military and the leaders of the government of both colonies, Frontier Village, Alcamoth's government-in-exile, and the Machina, as well as a few other important people. The meeting was for the purpose of determining how to go about the allied force's attack on Alcamoth. It began in an hour, and Egil needed to finish drafting his ideas, for he was the representative of the Machina military. The meeting was to be held in the Colony 6 town hall.

The past few days had been busy. They had cleaned up the damage from the Telethia attack, and began bringing new technologies. They had also began to unify the Mechon and Machina into the Allied Force, and Egil had built several more of the High Entia-saving Mechon, making ten in total. He had also built the Monado energy device that he had promised Fiora, which he had deemed the Energy Transfer Module (ETM) in memory of a game that he had played when he was younger. Meyneth had said that she had loved the game too in the old world that she had often spoken of, and so he had named it that in memory of her.

Of course, Lum'ter had been elated to see him and to finally be free of the Curse of the High Entia, as many of the saved ones had taken to calling it. The young High Entia man had been too traumatized to say anything until the night before the meeting, when he had finally began to tell his story. He was going to attend the meeting as well, and share his experiences along with Lum'ter to help everyone better understand how Zanza controlled the Telethia, and to find out if there was anything they could take advantage of in the attacking of Alcamoth.

In addition to this, Egil's Mechon network that was watching for Telethia had also found Kallian's Havre floating right where Junks had left it, purged of the deadly ether, and had brought it to Colony 6 so it could be duplicated by the world's best scientists and mass-produced to aid in the upcoming battle. They had also discovered something quite interesting.

Massive quantities of ether were stored in a location near the entrance to the High Entia Tomb. The most prevalent ether signature he could see was pure Bionis ether, specifically the same ether that Zanza had used to initiate the High Entia transformations. Mechon scouts had been sent into the Tomb, but the only one that had made it past all the traps and into the room which appeared to directly precede the storage room had discovered that the door was locked and would only open to a special key with a pattern resembling a High Entia feather. It had tried to cut through the wall, but it couldn't, and then something had attacked it and the footage from its camera had cut out.

When Egil had spoken to Kallian about this turn of events, he had said that there were only three of these keys, known as the High Entia Emblems, in existence: one had been kept in Satorl Marsh for countless years, and obtaining it was a rite of passage among the ancient High Entia, one had been stolen by a member of the Bionite Order around a thousand years ago, and presumed lost after she was cornered on the Bionis' horn, and chose to throw herself into the sea rather than be captured, and the third was kept locked away in the Emperor's private office.

He initially hadn't believed Egil about the storage facility, eventually revealing that he'd heard rumors of a lab in the Tomb, dedicated to experiments on Telethia, but had dismissed them as ridiculous and not worth investigating.

The plan was for Shulk and co. to infiltrate Alcamoth while most of the Telethia were distracted by the battle, retrieve the High Entia Emblem in the Emperor's office, access the Telethia lab, retrieve what research they could, save as many Telethia as could be saved, and then destroy it by blowing up all the volatile ether.

Egil finished drafting his notes, and went to the town hall. As he sat at the large table, he got out his notes, and began to go through them, combing for errors and problems in his writing. As he went through them, he saw more people come into the room, some familiar, some not. His father, somehow having left Junks, had sat across the table from him and was going through his notes as well.

As the minutes dragged on, more people came to the room. Otharon, as well as a man who appeared to be the mayor of Colony 6, both entered the room and sat at their spaces at the table, followed by Dunban and the presumed mayor of Colony 9. Chief Dunga also came in, sitting in his own row, leading Egil to assume that he controlled the Nopon military forces too. Finally, Melia and Kallian entered, sitting in their spots at the table.

The rest of the party sat at the spots on the table behind the leaders. Riki sat across from the large Nopon, whereas Reyn and Sharla sat at the row behind Riki. Fiora sat across from the unnamed High Entia man that had been the "invincible" Telethia, whereas Lum'ter sat at the reverse head of the table. Everyone was dressed in the most formal clothing they had, except for those from Mechonis, which led to Riki wearing a hilariously mismatched Nopon-sized suit and tie. The tie was a light forest green with weird swirling patterns on it, whereas the suit was pretty much the most vivid red Egil could think of, multiplied tenfold.

Everyone had a writing pad for note-taking on what they deemed relevant, as well as the finest voice projection technology that Machina scientists had created. At long last, Shulk entered the room, to applause from everyone. Sitting in his space, he spoke into the microphone, "Test." His voice came out of the speakers clear as day.

Beginning, he said, "You have all come to Colony 6 today for a meeting on the Allied Force, and to discuss strategy on how we will attack Alcamoth. As we likely don't know everyone else, we'll begin by introducing ourselves. I'm Shulk, the former wielder of Zanza's Monado. Although I no longer possess it, I can still manipulate my replica to use all the Monado Arts I've learned or created, and I can still use some of Zanza's power."

"I am Melia Antiqua. I am the empress of the High Entia, and am also half-Homs. I wish to free my people from their curse, and take the city out of the clutches of Zanza."

At the mention of Melia's surname, the unnamed High Entia seemed surprised. He probably didn't know she was royalty, Egil thought.

"I'm Rodfick, the mayor of Colony 6. As the new base of operations of the Allied Force, it is my responsibility to make sure Colony 6 stays safe from Telethia."

"I'm Grethan, the mayor of Colony 9. We will be ready to aid the Allied Force with whatever we deem necessary at this meeting for the assault on Alcamoth."

"My name is Miqol. I am the chief of the Machina. We will provide the Allied Force with the best technology we have."

"I am Chief Dunga. Me plan to send best Nopon fighters to aid the attack on Bird People city. The Nopon will not let down Allied Force."

"My name's Sharla. I'm a medic in the Colony 6 Defence Force. I accompanied Shulk to the top of the Mechonis, and was there when he talked Egil down from destroying Bionis."

"I'm Fiora. I'm a Homs that Egil saved from death and converted into a Mechon. I was configured to operate inside a Face Mechon - that was why the Monado couldn't damage them. I was also present when Shulk defeated Egil."

"I'm Lum'ter. I'm a High Entia whom Egil saved from the Curse. I was his friend before the titans fought their battle, and thus when Egil saved me, he was overjoyed."

"My name is Zencas. I will tell you my story when it comes time to do that."

"So that was the unnamed High Entia's name," Egil thought. His accent sounded like no other accent Egil had heard. It was quite nasal, but it rolled off his tongue smoothly and elegantly.

"My name's Reyn. I was Shulk's first traveling companion. I used to be the one protecting him...but now, he's the one who protects everyone."

"Me Riki, this year's legendary Heropon! Riki also present when Shulk beat big bad Egil."

Now it was Egil's turn. He was nervous at what their reaction would be, but he had to proceed, or else...they couldn't move forward.

"I am Egil. Up until Shulk changed my mind, I remained convinced that the only way to stop Zanza was to destroy Bionis itself. Fortunately, Shulk was able to make me see sense, before Zanza returned and awakened Bionis."

"I'm Dunban. I am the general of Colony 9's Defence Force, and another one of Shulk's traveling companions. I was the former wielder of Zanza's Monado, before it took the use of my right arm away from me."

"My name is Otharon. I'm the colonel of Colony 6. We have been preparing for the attack on Alcamoth, as well."

"I am Kallian Antiqua, the Ruling Regent of the High Entia. Until my sister is ready to take the throne, I will govern the empire in her place. I was the first High Entia to be saved from the Curse."

The introductions complete, Shulk continued. "I have made it clear that we will not discuss this with anyone besides those present, right? I believe it would be wise to come up with a code name for the attack. Does anyone have a sugges-"

Before Shulk finished, Riki instantly started jumping up and down, boisterously suggesting, "OOH! Call attack 'Heropon Save the Bird People!'"

Reyn, annoyed with his friend yet again, told him in a hushed tone, "Riki, you should've let Shulk finish, and I think naming it something super obvious like that would defeat the purpose of a code name, don't you?"

Riki seemed annoyed, but before he could say anything, Dunban spoke up. "If I may, Shulk, I would like to suggest Feathers of Freedom, or simply referring to the attack as 'breaking the curse.'"

Shulk seemed to like the latter, and he told Dunban, "Yeah, I think 'breaking the curse' is good. It could very well be interpreted as simply breaking the curse of Zanza, as Egil said back in Mechonis Core." Turning to everyone, he said, "In discussions outside these confidential meetings, we will refer to the attack as 'breaking the curse.' For example, if you were going to say, 'When we attack Alcamoth...' you would instead say 'When we break the curse...'"

Shulk continued, "We should decide who is doing what. My party, which is myself, Reyn, Dunban, Fiora, Sharla, Melia, Riki, and Egil, will use the battle as a distraction to eliminate the Telethia lab and take what research we can. We will first have to enter the city and take the High Entia Emblem from the Emperor's office to access the lab."

"All Mechon fighting in the Allied Force will be under Miqol's command, and everyone else will be under the command of Kallian. Lum'ter and Zencas, you're still too weak to fight, is that correct?"

Zencas nodded, and Lum'ter said, "Yes, that's right. We are still too weak to fight as of now. I don't remember what the doctors said exactly, but it had something to do with the body's natural ether intake being too low because the Telethia's body mostly relies on ether stolen from the life it kills. They said from the rate we're adapting, we won't be ready to fight in 10 days. They estimated roughly 12 days to fully recover."

Shulk nodded, and replied, "Well, we can't wait any longer than that, so I'm afraid we must do without you. What's the date again, Dunban? We need to mark these events down on some sort of planner."

Dunban told him, "Today's the 10th of December. We plan to attack Alcamoth on the 21st, the winter solstice. It would be a powerful symbolic victory against Zanza's army, if we could defeat them on the darkest day of the year."

Shulk went on, saying, "If we want to attack then, we should have the main army leave on the 17th, to give them plenty of time to arrive. The Havres squadrons, the Mechon carriers, and the Nopon battle Pterixes shouldn't take long to arrive, so they can depart an hour before we launch our attack. I think Lorithia will be very angry to see that we're using her technology against her."

"We plan to move up the Bionis normally until we reach Makna Forest, where we'll go through Valak Mountain and a little-known cave system up onto the Bionis' right shoulder, and move on Alcamoth from there. Nobody ever uses that pathway anymore, so they won't expect an attack from there."

"When we arrive at the entrance to Eryth Sea, we'll wait for the other groups to arrive, and when we are all ready, Kallian will give the order to attack. We'll station soldiers on all of the islands and shores, so there's nowhere safe for the tired-out Telethia to hide."

"My party will ride in two Havres with Kallian, but we'll wait until the fighting has started to sneak past and land on the base of Alcamoth. If any of the disciples appear, warn us and we will distract them. Our target is to save as many Telethia as we can. I believe it's time to ask Lum'ter a few questions."

Shulk began, "Do Telethia have a self-preservation instinct?"

Lum'ter told him, "No, they don't. There's so many, that even if a few are lost, the army can keep going."

"Well, that's actually a good thing, because that means that we don't have to worry about any getting away. Are there any weaknesses that you know of?"

"If you can cut off their antennae, they can't read minds anymore, and they seem to have trouble correlating the intention to do harm to a spray bottle. They just automatically think that it is water and that it can't harm them, despite it obviously not being water. Other than that, I can't think of any."

Shulk turned to look at Zencas. "Zencas, I think it's time for you to tell us your story."

"Ah yes. I was once the crown prince of the High Entia. My full name is Zencas Antiqua, just like Melia and Kallian. I was slated to take the throne, but the day before my coronation, Zanza and Bionis awakened. The last thing I remember before transforming is looking out at Eryth Sea, the Bionis moving, and green ether seeping out of the water. Prison Island hadn't been built yet, so it was much different then."

"At one time, I fought a giant named Dickson. He said that he wished for a world with no need for gods, and he managed to wound me and drive me off. Later, I saw him swear fealty to Zanza, and I knew that he had either lost to Zanza or that Zanza had offered to Dickson to become his disciple, and he had chosen to back down and take the offer."

"Thousands of years passed. I saw the new life of Bionis rise, all blissfully unaware of their ultimate fate. In the High Entia year 36,704, the Bionis awakened once more. It attacked Mechonis this time, sending me and many others like me to attack the Machina living there. Soon after, the Mechonis awakened and forced the Bionis to stop, sending Zanza into a dormant state. I began to despair, wishing to be set free. I wanted nothing more than for someone to find me and put me out of my misery."

Another 2,500 years passed. Lorithia, another disciple of Zanza's, found me and began to experiment on me, sensing the potential. She fused me with some strange airship, and made me immune to that ether of Egil's. I heard what Dunban said, hoping that Shulk wouldn't meet the same fate Dickson had. I could sense you approaching, Shulk, and mustered all my mental willpower to slow down charging that Art. Dickson's will fought with mine, and it was on the verge of winning, when you finally arrived and saved me."

"I am so glad to be free, and not dead. You must not become Zanza's disciple, Shulk, for all our sakes."

Everyone seemed saddened by Zencas' dark story, and Shulk told him, "Zencas, I'll never become like Dickson, and I won't allow Zanza to decide the fate of this world anymore."

"All right," Shulk continued. "I believe we're done here. Mayor Grethan, make sure the Colony 9 Defence Force is here by noon on the 17th. Other than that, make sure all Havre cannons fire Mechonis ether in non-lethal blasts, make sure all Mechon have their weapons replaced with ether shooters, and make sure all soldiers carry bottles of the ether. We'll see you on the 17th. Here's to breaking the curse on the darkest day of the year!

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**A/N: Just like what Shulk's wishing for, here's to breaking the curse! Except this curse is the lack of an XC:DE release date. Next (planned*) chapter will be Melancholy Tyrea, then we move on to break the curse.**

***Planned on my planning sheet. It could be way longer, I had Chapters 6-8 planned as one. I'm planning by major events and not necessarily by length, so if I have to split them up, no big deal.**

**One more thing - Zencas is supposed to have an American accent, because he's from the previous cycle. Just a nice way of making them distinct.**

**Have a great day, waluigifan20**


	9. Curse of the High Entia

**A/N: Well, everything I said about a tweet got invalidated. It looks great, though, and it seems like there won't be a Torna-like expansion for Egil leading up to the Great Battle, which was one of my fears (I want Lum'ter and my headcanons to be left alone just where they are). No, there aren't any ships besides the canon ones*, so no, Lum'ter is not being shipped with Egil.**

***Canon ships are Shulk x Fiora and Reyn x Sharla. Nobody else, and I will keep it that way because shipping is just not something I like to do.**

**Two more clarifications - the army plans to move to break the curse through the opposite shoulder to the one that we'll be exploring in Future Connected. This is the shoulder that leads to Valak Mountain and the one that gets hit by the Mechonis' blast in the beginning of the cutscene where it awakens. Also, everyone looks so good in HD! Now I just need to see HD Egil and HD Zanza and I'll be happy.**

**Two more things: I messed up. I used the incorrect singular form of "Havres." Also, I'm adding the date to make it easier to keep track of time as it passes, and so I don't have to say stuff like "it had been three days" or anything like that. If I go back and edit the earlier chapters, I'll change those things.**

**Lum'ter is supposed to be a somewhat more rough-around-the-edges High Entia. He was an adventurer, not royalty, so that's why his speech isn't as refined as Melia, Kallian, or Zencas. You'll see how they meet if I ever write a prequel to this fic. Anyway, let's get to the story.**

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**Outside Colony 6, 3:42 PM  
December 10th, 63,851 MSC (Machina Standard Calendar)**

The meeting over, everyone left to clear their heads. Riki and Reyn went to sit on the Hope Farm fence, friendly banter ensuing, whereas Sharla and Fiora sat by the gate, talking about what had just transpired. Shulk sat on the grass by the side of the cliff overlooking the drainage outlet, conversing with Egil. Alternately, Dunban and Melia decided to walk down by the gate that led to the Bionis' leg.

Shulk was talking about Monado Arts with Egil. He believed that it might be possible to teach Monado Arts to other Monado wielders. As it stood, Shulk lacked Armor, and Egil lacked Shield, Speed, Purge, Cyclone, and Eater. He was telling Egil how he activated Monado Shield. It was quite similar to how Egil activated Armor. Egil activated Meyneth's Monado, and attempted to use it.

Sure enough, its blade turned yellow, but a deeper shade than if he used the Mechonis version of Enchant, and he spun it in a circle like he did for Armor, creating shields around himself and Shulk. Before he could begin teaching Shulk to use Armor, Dunban's voice rang out, "Everyone, come quickly! We need help!" Egil and Shulk, along with all the other party members, ran to the gate, not knowing what trouble laid in wait.

They found Melia worriedly pacing, while Dunban was checking the pulse of a collapsed High Entia woman. Shulk asked him, "Who's this?" and Reyn added, "Ain't she the one who attacked us in the Tomb?" Dunban backed away as she began to stir, but seeing Melia's face caused hers to contort into an expression of rage, and she choked out, "You!" Melia realized who she was, and said, "Tyrea?! What are you doing here?" Seeing her injuries, she said, "You're hurt..."

When Melia tried to help her, she cried in outrage, "**Do not touch me, vile girl!**" A perturbed Reyn told her to "Watch it!" and she promptly collapsed. Melia asked her, "Tyrea, what happened?" After several seconds with no response, Reyn asked, "Is she...dead?" Melia answered him, "No, it looks like she just passed out." Sharla's medical instincts taking over, she said, "Let's get her to the infirmary."

As Egil watched this take place, Sharla turned to Reyn, noticed the wary stance he was in, and asked him, "Reyn?" He seemed annoyed by her request for help, and said, "C'mon, why me?" Melia begged him, "Please?" In a resigned tone, he muttered, "All right..." and slung the unconscious Tyrea over his left shoulder, beginning to walk back towards Colony 6.

* * *

**Junks Infirmary, 6:38 PM  
**

Everyone paced around nervously, waiting for Tyrea to regain consciousness. Sharla had examined her, and found signs of minor ether deficiency. She had been given a healing round of water ether crystals, and it was expected for her to reawaken any minute now. Dunban asked, "Is she okay?"

The only thing Sharla could say to this was "I think she should be, unless I didn't use enough water crystals. What worries me is why she has ether deficiency. We don't know of anything that could cause that being in the area since the Telethia attack three days ago, and if someone'd gotten it then, they probably would have died by now."

Melia seemed deep in thought. She murmured, "Unless..." Sharla turned to her and asked her, "What, Melia?" She responded, "It is possible that the Bionis' awakening could have disrupted the natural ether flow around this area. If she wandered into an area with less ether than normal and stayed there for several hours, it is possible that that could have been what affected her."

Dunban told Sharla, "No, that's not what I meant." She replied, "You mean why didn't she become a Telethia?" He nodded, and once again, Melia provided an answer. "For pure-blooded High Entia to become Telethia, the ether energy surrounding the Bionis has to be above a certain level. Luckily, the level of ether energy here is not as high as on the upper regions of Bionis. That may be what kept her safe. Or perhaps..."

This awakened a suppressed memory within Egil, of the day the Bionis awoke, two and a half thousand years ago...

* * *

**Bionis' Right Leg, 7:51 PM  
August 7th, 61,351 MSC**

"No! Let me go, Egil! My parents and sister need me! I have to make sure that they're all right!"

"Lum'ter, enough of this madness! What if you get attacked by Telethia? At least wait until tomorrow morning, and then we can both set out."

"No, Egil! You don't understand! What if we're too late? I can get there much quicker with my wings, anyway. It shouldn't take more than a few hours! Please, Egil!"

"You're just playing into Zanza's game! He wants you to rush up there alone in a panicked state, and be caught off guard by a Telethia!"

"No! Please, Egil! I have to see them, to make sure they're all right! My parents aren't fighters, and my sister's only 40 years old! She can't fight either!"

"Lum'ter, look at me. You're my dearest friend, and I would hate to see you get killed in a moment of panic. If we wait until the morning, I can call on my father, and he can take us both up in Junks. We compensate for each other's weaknesses. You know you can't handle a one-on-one fight with something like a Telethia."

"All right, Egil. I'll wait for the morning."

"Thank you, Lum'ter."

Egil and Lum'ter had set up camp, eaten, and then shared a moment gazing up at the stars and wondering how the world would change. After that, they'd gone to sleep, and the morning after, Egil awoke to find that Lum'ter had vanished, leaving a note.

"Egil, I'm sorry, but I was simply too terrified to listen. I know I'm being foolish and an idiot, but I care too much. If all goes well, I should be back by noon.  
-Lum'ter"

He'd waited until noon, and Lum'ter hadn't returned. He'd summoned his father, and they'd flown up to the Shoulder, for fear of being attacked if they landed in Eryth Sea. There, he'd been confronted by Lorithia and Lum'ter's Telethia, before his father returned and saved him. After that, they had left for Mechonis, and that was when the Great Battle began.

* * *

**Back in 63,851 MSC...**

In the meantime, Egil had registered that Tyrea and Melia were step-half-sisters, but he was finally forced out of his dwelling on the past when Tyrea spoke. "That is correct." Melia seemed shocked, and she said, "Tyrea?! You're awake!" Tyrea turned to gaze at her with a look of utter disgust upon her face.

In a resigned tone, she explained, "I had more right to the throne than she ever did. Were it not for the consort system that has so polluted the pride of our people, it would have been me, a pure-blooded High Entia, who would build the future of our people! But you...you are a hypocrite, just like me!" Melia gasped at this, but it didn't seem to faze her, and she continued. "If we are honest, what is the difference? You, too, would take the lives of your own people to protect your bloodline. Melia, you too are nothing but an assassin!"

Melia, obviously flustered, choked out, "You're wrong, I..." before Reyn cut her off. "I don't buy that for a second!" Tyrea gasped, and Melia said, "Reyn!?"

"Pride of your people? How about you're jealous of Melia?"

Tyrea asked him, disbelieving that he would ever think that, "Do you really think I would be jealous of her?"

He knew she was, though, and continued on, saying, "Ain't ya? You're envious of her, right? Of how she lives her life. You just want everyone to feel sorry for you for being in the shadows all your life!"

In outrage, she cried, "How dare you? No Homs speaks to me like that!"

Egil stepped in, and said, "No, he's right. No one deserves to lead their people if they have a victim complex as bad as yours. And Melia, an assassin? Hahaha! Every time Melia attacks anything, she has been provoked first. That's hardly what an assassin would do."

After looking at Egil for a moment, she gasped. "A filthy child of Mechonis thinks it has the right to tell me I have a victim complex? All of your filth should have died two and a half thousand years ago!"

Everything went quiet as she said the last thing, and Egil's face slowly twisted from a neutral expression to a livid glare. He said, with a look of icy rage, "What did you say?" Tyrea looked visibly terrified, and she murmured, "N..n..nothing..." "Good."

He spat out that last word like it was something bitter that he hadn't intended to eat. Reyn continued, telling her, "I'm saying, you'll never have a life like Melia's! You don't have the faintest idea why Melia's been fighting. Even if you'd been born in her place, the Emperor still would've chosen her as his successor! Succeeding the imperial line ain't all about blood! It's about takin' on the will to do whatever it takes for your land, for your people, when the time comes! That's what makes Melia different from **you**!"

All she could muster was a half-hearted, "How dare you?"

Everything finally stopped when Dunban said, "All three of you, stop this! This is no time for pointless bickering!" Sharla agreed, adding, "He's right. We survivors shouldn't be fighting amongst ourselves. Right, time's up! I want the room cleared out."

Reyn, still worked up, muttered, "Yeah, okay..." and Egil, still simmering from the barb Tyrea threw at him, saw the sense in what Sharla said, and conceded, "All right, Sharla."

As Egil was leaving, he heard Sharla say to Tyrea, "And you, you need to calm down and get some rest." Humiliated, she growled in frustration.

* * *

**Junks Deck (Colony 6), 12:47 AM  
December 11th, 63,851 MSC**

After everyone had left Junks for the night, Tyrea snuck out onto the deck, climbing down into the colony. As she walked through its empty streets, she was still stewing with rage over Egil and Reyn's reproaches. Noticing dark clouds on the horizon, she passed through the gate, using her skills learned as an Inquisitor of the Bionite Order to fool the guards. She walked over to a spot nearby, but out of their earshot. In a huff, she muttered, "Me? Envious? I only think...of my people..."

She gasped in shock, and asked herself, "What is that?" A patch of ground was glowing with many colors of ether. Walking forward into it, a giant Telethia appeared before her. Upon opening her eyes, she didn't process what was happening for a second, asking, "Huh?" The ether patch expanded, releasing blinding light in all directions.

* * *

**Colony 6, 9:13 AM  
**

The noise from something large being broken resounded throughout the colony, and a loud screeching noise could be heard. Everyone rushed out of Junks from the meeting they were holding to investigate. After not seeing anything, Dunban rhetorically asked, "What's going on?" Fiora noticed something, and cried, "Look! Over there," and pointed towards the Reconstruction HQ.

Sure enough, Egil looked to where she was pointing, and the characteristic sickly green skin and glowing gold feathers of a Telethia could be seen, as well as the building burning. Rushing to confront the Telethia, Egil pondered, "So, another one transformed. Will we ever be done with this?" However, perhaps reading Egil's mind about the spray, as soon as Tyrea saw them approach, she took off, flying up towards Makna Forest.

After all the fires were finally put out, they finished their meeting, and then began discussing how to pursue Tyrea.

"Well, what do we know for sure?" Shulk asked. Fiora told him, "We know she flew towards Makna Forest, so we're very likely to find her there. Now, where could that lead us?"

Shulk was deep in thought, his hand on his chin. "I fought Telethia there twice. Once, deep in the forest, which was drained of its natural ether and given an unnatural gray color. And once, on a beach on the edge of the lake. Both locations shared a very pure ether crystal deposit, but since the large Telethia drained the ether and ate the crystals in the forest, I think it's likely that we'll be able to find Tyrea at that beach."

Miqol seemed to agree, and said, "Then that's where we will go." Turning to one of the pilots, he told her, "Take us to the Great Makna Falls, as soon as possible." He told them, "We'll be waiting on the cliff above that beach."

* * *

**Great Makna Falls, 9:45 AM**

As Junks approached the beach, the characteristic green skin and ethereal golden feathers of a Telethia could be seen. It seemed to be eating the ether crystal deposit, and when it heard Junks' engine, it whipped around in surprise, roaring a challenge. The party jumped off the ship's deck, landing on the ground between the Telethia and the path leading back up the cliff.

Dunban pointed his sword at the beast's middle head, proclaiming, "Tyrea, we will free you from the Curse! Ready yourselves, everyone!" It responded by roaring a challenge once more.

The Telethia focused itself on Melia, biting at her with its left head. She dodged every attack, running to the back of the party and beginning to launch elementals. Frustrated, it suddenly kicked at Shulk, who was launched back several feet and knocked unconscious. Seeing this, Melia thrust her staff forward, smacking the Telethia in the chest, then cried, "En garde!" and drop-kicked the Telethia, knocking it off its feet.

Dunban followed up by slamming the hilt of his sword into the Telethia's leg, knocking it down for longer. It roared in frustration, but then ceased roaring for seemingly no reason. Then, despite being knocked down, it gathered ether in its foot, and stomped the ground, creating a thunderstorm of ether that surrounded Fiora, knocking her out as well.

History repeated itself with Riki, as the Telethia spun its tail in a circle, and Reyn knocked him out of the way. Riki fell over from exhaustion, and Reyn was launched several feet, also losing consciousness. Sharla ran over to begin helping them all.

This left Dunban, Melia, and Egil facing down this formidable Telethia. It began to make a move towards Melia again, jumping in the air and swooping down at her like a thirty-foot Rhogul intent on an unaware Hox. Egil saw this play out in slow motion, and finally dragged himself out of his shocked stupor. Running towards Melia, he slashed at the Telethia's leg with Meyneth's Monado's jagged edge, not even bothering to activate the energy blade. It created a long, deep wound on the leg, which caused the Telethia to roar in pain and anger at losing its prey.

Then, a spark of red light appeared in the middle of Egil's vision, which grew to cover his entire view. Even as shocked as he was, it didn't stop what happened next. The Telethia kicked Dunban directly in the head, and he let out a cry of pain, before falling to the ground, presumably dead. As Sharla screamed, "That's not possible! DUNBAN!" it absorbed his ether, turned around, and with as much malice as it could show, grabbed Melia in its mouth. She screamed for Egil to help her, but he realized that he couldn't move. She desperately begged for something, anything, before the Telethia drained her ether and her movements slowed, eventually stopping completely.

It turned to Egil, kicking him in the chest and knocking him on his back, before walking up to him and stomping on him. The vision faded, and Egil saw the Telethia approaching Dunban, ready to deliver the lethal kick, when he cried, "Dunban, look out!" Dunban jumped out of the way of the kick, missing the side of the Telethia's leg by a hair's breadth. The Telethia attempted to kick him twice more, and on the final kick, he swung his Machina Sword with all his might, cutting off the entire limb.

This made the Telethia roar in agony, and it turned to Melia, lunging towards her with its mouth open, but as she wasn't stuck in place in shock due to Dunban having dodged the kick, she easily sidestepped, and shot three flares at it at point-blank range. It seemed to give out a slight whimper of fear this time, before getting up again and beginning to charge up ether. Egil suddenly had a strange feeling that this was a Talent Art, and remembered his training with Shulk the previous day. Shulk had been teaching him one of the Monado Arts he could use - Monado Shield.

It was now time for that training to pay off. He began to activate Monado Armor, but changed the makeup of the ether shields. Meyneth's Monado's blade changed from red to a deep yellow, and he spun it in a circle, creating circular barriers of yellow ether around all three of them. Dunban and Melia seemed surprised by the ether shields, but before they could say anything, the Telethia unleashed a torrent of violet ether, as usual, aimed directly at Melia. Sure enough, she emerged unscathed. Egil noted that the Telethia seemed to have a vitriolic hatred for her. Maybe this was Tyrea's deepest, most primal feelings emerging?

Melia seemed quite surprised by the ether shield, and asked Egil, "How did you manage that? I thought that only Shulk could use that Monado Art." He replied, "Right before we found Tyrea, Shulk was teaching me some Monado Arts. This was the first one he taught me. I suppose he'll teach me the rest soon enough." She nodded in understanding.

Everyone seemed quite energized by the tide of battle turning in their favor, and Melia cried, "Let us use a chain attack, and finish this once and for all! Show no restraint!" Egil hadn't used a chain attack since before the Great Battle, but he remembered the basics. Melia began by launching a bolt, crying, "The power of thunder is mine to command! Dunban?" He cried, "Aha!" and followed up by slashing at the Telethia twice, proclaiming, "I'll cut you down to size! Worldly Slash! Egil!"

Egil responded by saying, "Let's see you dodge this!" He decided to use his Talent Art. Gathering ether in his body, he rose into the air and yelled, "Homing Missiles! You cannot escape!" before shooting several missiles of blue ether.

This was the final straw, and the Telethia collapsed to the ground, weakened enough for the spray to work, to everyone's relief. Sharla had succeeded in healing Reyn and Shulk, and Riki, just like the previous time he was knocked out while fighting a Telethia, regained consciousness as soon as it was defeated. As Melia's hand went to her bottle, a voice that Egil never expected to hear told her, "Stop!" Everyone turned in shock to see none other than Tyrea, unharmed, and more importantly, still a High Entia.

Melia exclaimed, "Tyrea?! You're safe!" Walking towards the Telethia, Tyrea asked Melia, "You do realise? That Telethia is Yumea." Melia gasped, and Shulk asked, "Yumea? She was your step-mother, right, Melia?" Melia sighed. It was apparent that this was bringing up many painful memories from her childhood.

Shulk asked Tyrea, "I assume she escaped when Zanza awakened? When we returned to Alcamoth, we found out that she was supposed to be tried on the 16th of December. Obviously, that's not happening now, but when did she escape?"

"She did escape when Zanza reawakened," she replied. "After she escaped, I began pursuing her. Even though she knew about our curse, she remained faithful to the Bionis."

Shulk asked another question. "Why would she remain faithful like that? Didn't she feel betrayed?" She told him, "Everyone has their own beliefs, and what they believe is their own choice. Yumea adhered to her path. I pursued her so that I could fulfil her final wish." Sharla asked her, "Well, what was her final wish?"

Tyrea continued, saying, "Yumea was imprisoned within the Tower of Investigation. She told me that after she transformed into a Telethia, I was to destroy her as quickly as possible. She wished to sacrifice herself to the Bionis - at least, that is what I believed at first. But, now I understand Yumea's true desire."

Stunned by this revelation, Melia proposed, "Then...perhaps it would be better not to save her. I will be honest with you, Tyrea. We all thought this Telethia was you." Tyrea laughed, replying, "I suspected as much, given your reaction to seeing me. I asked her before she transformed, 'If there was a chance you could become a High Entia again, would you take it?' She told me that she would not. She wanted to serve the Bionis until the bitter end, but she did not want to be trapped as a Telethia for long. That is why I must..."

She gathered ether, ready to finish off the Telethia with a Mind Blast, but Melia stopped her by saying, "This is my responsibility." Tyrea asked her, "Melia, why?" She explained, "Father entrusted me with the empire and its people. What I believe in is the will of those struggling to survive. I have to fight if I am to convey this to the next generation. Besides, Yumea is your birth mother. There is no need for you to carry out such an unpleasant task."

Tyrea asked her, "Is the same not true of you? You may not be of her blood, but you still think of her as your..." Melia told her, "This is a duty that my father and brother conferred upon me." Tyrea murmured, "Melia..." Taking this as acceptance, Melia walked towards the Telethia, gathering ether and unleashing a Mind Blast directly upon it. It cried out, dissipating into green ether that was scattered away by the wind.

After the last of the ether was gone, Melia told her, "Tyrea, I believe you and I are alike." For some reason, Tyrea seemed angered by this, shouting, "Alike?! Never, vile girl!" Calming down, she told Melia, "My gratitude for assisting Yumea...I mean, Mother. I have no doubt that we will meet again, and hopefully on more friendly terms." She spread her wings, taking off and flying downstream to parts unknown.

Reyn remarked, "Well, there she goes." Sharla asked no one in particular, "Is she going to be okay on her own?" Dunban responded, saying, "She'll be all right. We and Tyrea share the same goal. As she said, our paths are sure to meet again." Shulk agreed. "Yeah, you're right. Melia, what did you mean just now? When you said you and Tyrea are alike."

Melia replied, "Tyrea must be half-Homs, just like me." Reyn seemed surprised. He asked her, "What? But the wings on her head!" She explained, "Not all half-blooded High Entia have small wings, only the majority. Some are indistinguishable from pure-blooded High Entia." Sharla remarked, "Dominant and recessive inheritance. I've studied this." Shulk seemed intrigued, and he murmured, "So that's why..." Fiora asked Melia, "Do you think Yumea knew this would happen?"

"Perhaps," she replied, turning to face Fiora. Walking forward a short distance, she said, "Actually, she had to have known. At least, that's what I believe." Fiora concluded, "She was her mother, after all. She must have been aware." Melia told her, "Yes."

Something shiny in the lakebed caught Egil's eye, and he said to no one in particular, "What's that?" Fiora turned to him, asking, "What did you see, Egil?" He told her, "I could have sworn I saw something glittering in the water over there." He pointed to where he had seen it. Shulk said, "I'll get it," and took all of his clothes off except for his swimming trunks. Egil noticed Fiora's blush when he did so. He waded out to where it was, the water coming up to his neck, and said, "I can see it too. It looks to be pure gold."

He took a large breath, and went under the surface of the water. Emerging after around a minute, he told everyone, "There's a rod of gold. I think it might be an ether staff, but I can't tell for sure. I was able to pull some of it out, but I had to come up for air." He went back under, taking another breath, and finally emerged after another minute, holding an ornate golden ether staff with wings at the tip and a water ether gem.

He said, "I was able to get it out, and I also found this ether gem. It seemed like it was very powerful, so I decided I might as well grab it while I could." Giving it to Melia, who Egil also noticed was blushing, he said, "I think this would be best used by you, Melia." He dried off with the towel he carried in his travel pack, and put the rest of his clothes back on.

As he was doing that, Melia gasped in shock. She said, "This is the Empress Staff! To think it was hidden all the way down here..." Shulk said, "Huh?" She explained, saying, "As you know, the Emperor Staff was designed for the Emperor to use. This is the Empress Staff, its twin. It was stolen around fifty years ago, by someone who claimed to be working alone, but we now know was likely connected to the Bionite Order. To think that I would be the one to find it..."

Shulk told her, "Well, I can't think of anyone more qualified to use it than the High Entia Empress herself. Go on, try it out!" She told him, "Very well," and summoned a bolt and a flare. She said, "It certainly seems to fit well with me. I believe I will begin using this. The gems it has are also quite good." Dispelling the elementals, she said, "Well, we had best return to Colony 6. Let us go back to Junks."

When they reached Junks, it flew back to Colony 6, where Shulk began teaching Egil more Monado Arts. Egil couldn't help but feel that what had happened was them being sidetracked from their goal, but in the end, he felt it was worth it. They would attack Alcamoth on the 20th and destroy the Telethia lab, and then it would be time to take the fight to Zanza.

* * *

**A/N: Can I just say, what a way to have your first vision! We don't even see Shulk's first vision, it's just hinted as "having happened a few times before." I wanted to make sure Egil's first vision was a very interesting one. ****I also wanted to say that I'm going to adhere to my original chapter plan now, because I feel more comfortable writing longer chapters. I also know my author's notes are bloated, but I'm really going to try to work on that.**

**I'm sorry for not making Egil as relevant in this chapter. I really wanted to do this sidequest, but I think it marginalized Egil too much due to it being focused on Melia. We'll get some Egil-centric chapters soon, trust me. I've got lots of plans for how this fic's going to go.**

**Luxin stated in one of his recent videos that the Monado Archives says it's impossible to turn Telethia back into High Entia. That's not true. The actual text says, "To be exact, we should instead say 'the Telethia were not turned into High Entia.' We say this because people asked, 'Were Telethia turned back into High Entia after the end of the game?' In actuality, their original form is the Telethia, and that is how they would continue to exist when Zanza loses his powers." I don't know how you could misconstrue that as them being impossible to change back. It just said that they remained Telethia after Zanza died. Do your research, Luxin!**

**Did you like how I wrote the battle? I'm trying to improve my writing, so let me know if that shows.**

**Anyway, thank you for reading this! **

**Have a good day, waluigifan20**


	10. The Storming of Alcamoth

**A/N: I'm crossposting this on Ao3 now. If you'd prefer to read it there, then go on over. ****Anyway, here's the next chapter. ****Enjoy!**

**See? Short author note!**

* * *

**Colony 6, 6:00 PM  
December 17th, 63,851 MSC**

"Remember, our foes are swift, quiet, and deadly. They can read our minds, so make sure you're always aware of your surroundings. Do not let them sneak up on you. If you see one, neutralize it with the Mechonis ether, and then do not worry about the High Entia. One of the special Mechon will pick them up and take them back to Colony 6. Is everyone ready?"

"**YES, SIR!**"

"Then, we depart for Eryth Sea! May the Monado's light guide us well!"

Kallian finished his speech to the troops, stepping down from the podium. As he watched, the troops set off up the road to Satorl Marsh. When they reached the Sororal Statues, they would set up camp. On the next day, they would aim to reach Frontier Village. The day after that, they would depart for the Bionis' right shoulder, and camp there for the night, then on the final day, they would reach the entrance to Eryth Sea, waiting there for the attack to commence.

However, for the specialized groups, their journey would not begin until the day of the battle. The Nopon in their Pterixes would depart the morning of, and the Havres squadrons and Mechon carriers would depart at 4:00 PM, arriving and preparing for the battle to start at 5:00 PM, just as the sun was setting. When the Havres were ready, they would give the order to attack.

The objective was to draw out as many Telethia as possible, to make it easier for Shulk's party to sneak inside the city. Once they were inside, they would retrieve the High Entia Emblem, break into the Telethia lab, take as much research as possible, then destroy it.

The new Havres had been given a new name: Neo-Havres. They now had two pairs of cannons, which could fire lasers or Mechonis ether. Instead of carrying three people on one platform, there was the pilot's seat, with extra space in the back for a passenger, and two seats for a pair of gunners. Obviously, they also lacked the ability to turn their pilots into Telethia, not that it would matter any more.

In the days since their encounter with Tyrea, Egil had learned every Monado Art Shulk knew, and he had also taught Shulk how to use Monado Armor. There had been training exercises for the Homs to fight more coherently with the Mechon, and also for the High Entia to operate Neo-Havres, as most of the Havres Telethia were still missing, likely in Alcamoth with the rest of their kind.

The other seven had been planning to return to Colony 9 soon to check up on its state, but Egil had to remain behind because someone needed to stay behind to relay their experiences with Zanza and Telethia, and he volunteered to do it, because, as he had said, "Nobody there will take kindly to the mastermind of the Mechon attacks. It would be a hindrance to have to explain the truth to each person we speak to."

The Mechon sentries around Bionis were still active, and no abnormal behavior had been detected among the Telethia. Dickson was holding to his words, at least...

Kallian approached Egil and the other seven with an urgent look on his face, and said in a hushed tone, "I think we have a traitor in our ranks." Egil gasped in shock, and Riki murmured, "Riki not understand why anyone want to side with Zanza." Kallian looked at him, and said, "I do not think our traitor is siding with Zanza, Riki. We should probably go somewhere more secluded."

In Junks' hallway, he explained, "Last night, Egil's father checked the code on the Mechon. He saw that it had been tampered with, and when he looked at it, each one had been reprogrammed to attack every other Mechon as soon as they were released from the carriers, and to stop anything that got in their way, especially Telethia. I think that we are dealing with someone who is acting alone, given that it gave priority to stopping Telethia. He has fixed the code now, and an investigation has revealed that they plan to tamper with it further tonight, so I am going to request that you guard the Mechon carriers tonight and stop anyone who tries to tamper with them."

Egil answered, "Of course we can do that. Thank you for the warning." Melia, on the other hand, seemed to have a glimmer of something in her eyes.

* * *

**Mechon Carrier Storage (Outside Colony 6), 12:07 AM  
December 18th, 63,851 MSC**

"Man, is this guy ever gonna show up? I'm so tired, I could sleep for ten years!"

"Reyn bad at this! Point is to stay quiet!"

"Oh, give me a break, ya fuzzball! Am I allowed to complain or what?"

"No, Reyn not allowed to complain!"

The field that housed the Mechon carriers was up the road to Satorl Marsh, far enough that the noises of the colony were out of earshot. At one end, the master carrier sat with its code control terminal. Egil, Dunban, Reyn, and Riki were out of sight up one of the rows, but close enough to hear or see anyone who approached. Sharla and Melia were hidden closer to the Colony, so they could block off anyone who tried to mess with the Mechon. Shulk and Fiora were hidden farther away from the colony, to stop anyone in case they tried to go to Satorl Marsh.

Egil noticed some noises off in the distance. He quickly whispered, "Shh. I hear something..."

Reyn and Riki both quieted down, and a voice could be heard. "I'll never forgive those damn Mechon! Otharon and the others might be all buddy-buddy with Egil now, but I won't forget so easily! I can't wait to see how they react when the Mechon start attacking each other at Eryth Sea!"

Dunban seemed to want to run out and confront the man, but Egil whispered, "He would just run back to the colony if we confront him now. Let us wait until we are able to trap him." Seeing sense, Dunban seemed to relax again.

The man approached, and began to tamper with the Mechon carrier. What he didn't realize was that he was already trapped. He seemed frustrated, and yelled, "Oi, this got changed back! There must be something wrong with these carriers."

Dunban walked out, and told him, "No, it's much more simple than that. You just didn't account for us noticing." He jumped, and ran back towards the colony. Melia and Sharla ran out to block his path, and Melia told him, "Did you really think you would escape so easily?" He muttered, "Guess I'll have to take the long way 'round," turning around and running towards Satorl Marsh.

Shulk and Fiora had a different plan than just blocking him. Fiora waited until he ran past, then jumped out and tackled him to the ground. Shulk assisted her, saying, "We're working together with the Mechon and Egil. I understand if you hate them, but we can't allow you to mess with them." The others gathered around him in a circle. He tried to justify himself, shouting, "But you don't understand! The Mech..."

Melia cut him off, shouting, "Silence! Do you really think we care? **The only punishment that befits a traitor is death!** **If you have any dignity remaining, you will accept your fate and be quiet!**"

Upon hearing this, Egil gasped in horror, but Melia didn't seem to listen. "Dunban, give me your sword."

"Melia, don't you think it would be better..."

"I said, '**GIVE ME YOUR SWORD!**'"

She grabbed its hilt, and before Dunban could do anything, pulled it out of its sheath and held it in a very specific position, ready to kill the man. Egil, paralyzed by shock up until now, realized he had to do something. Fortunately, Dunban had recently switched back to his regular katana, rather than the Machina Sword he had been using. What could he do...

"Do you have anything else to say?" The man, clearly shaking with terror, whimpered a "no."

She began to count down. "Five, four, three, two, one..." She drove the sword down, but a sudden force and the terrible noise of metal on metal stopped it from descending any farther. Egil had grabbed it by the blade, the weapon unable to pierce his armor due to him being from Mechonis. Melia seemed enraged by this, and shouted, "Stop this, Egil! Traitors must die! That is the only way."

"No, Melia. You are wrong. To kill someone in cold blood is unacceptable." The man snorted at hearing those words come from Egil of all people.

"It is one thing to kill someone on the field of battle, or to defend your people. It is quite another to kill someone in cold blood."

"But, he obviously deserves to die! Can you not see that, Egil?"

"No, he does not deserve to die."

"So..."

Shulk cut in. "Melia, stop this! When did you become so bloodthirsty?" Dunban added, "This isn't you, Melia."

Egil finally managed to wrench Dunban's sword out of her grasp, and returned it to Dunban.

She said, "But...the High Entia have always executed traitors!"

Egil told her, "Perhaps they have, but it doesn't change what I said. When you become the arbiter of whether someone deserves to live or die, you lose a part of yourself."

She sighed, and told him, "But...you're right, Egil. I suppose that I was simply caught up in my rage at him potentially ruining the attack on Alcamoth and allowing my people to remain trapped as Telethia that I let it get the better of me. I am sorry. Now, what do we do with him?"

Egil told her, "Imprison him, of course. We'll keep him there until the danger from Zanza is gone, and then he will be released. We need to take him back to the colony." The man sighed, but whether it was resignation or relief was unknown.

When the man had been turned over to the government, and everyone had returned to their shared quarters, Dunban told everyone, "Well, now that we've found our traitor, we need to prepare for our return to Colony 9. It has been far too long since we came back, and we need to make sure everyone's ready for the attack. I am the general of their Defence Force, after all."

Everyone nodded assent. Egil, however, explained, "I must remain behind. My father wants to improve the Mechon forces, but he has to balance it with his duties as the chief. If I am there, I will be able to assist him, and we will finish more quickly." Dunban told him, "I understand, Egil. We will return on the 19th."

* * *

**Colony 6 Gate, 3:50 PM  
December 20th, 63,851 MSC**

"In a mere ten minutes, we will depart for Eryth Sea. When we arrive, our objective will be to defend Shulk's party from Telethia until they reach the Centre Gate of Alcamoth. After they depart, we will join the battle. Our objective then will be to revert as many Telethia as possible, focusing on the larger ones, because while on foot, many of the larger Telethia must be incapacitated before they can be reverted. Because the Neo-Havres cannons can shoot more of the ether, it will be much easier for us to revert the larger Telethia while the ground troops focus on the small ones."

Kallian was a great orator, Egil had to admit. He seemed to carry an inspirational aura with him wherever he went, so that anyone who heard him give a speech was given new motivation to succeed. The rest of the party had recently returned from Colony 9 with good news: Shulk had received a vision that there was some High Entia technology that could bring back Fiora's old body. Upon investigating the place where it was said to be, Melia had found it. However, Fiora had refused to enter it yet, because it would take six entire months, and they didn't have that kind of time. She planned to enter it after Zanza had been defeated.

Kallian finished his speech, "With the remaining time until we depart, you are dismissed. Please return by 4:00 PM, sharp."

* * *

**Havres Fleet, 4:59 PM**

Ideally, a Neo-Havres could fit three people: a pilot, and two gunners. However, a skilled individual could pilot one alone, and if necessary, a second person could ride in the pilot's space, although it would be a tight squeeze. Shulk, Egil, Reyn, and Dunban had taken one, Egil being the pilot due to understanding the technology the best, and Melia, Sharla, Fiora, and Riki had taken the other, Melia being the pilot. They were passing the Bionis' head now, and the Telethia were eerily absent. That could either be a very good sign, or a very bad sign.

Reyn, from his position in one of the gunners' seats, muttered, "I don't like this one bit. We're so high up, and what if these break?" Dunban sighed, and told him, "Reyn, if Kallian trusts these, that should be enough for you. Alcamoth has floated for probably thousands of years, after all."

Shulk added, "It's not the machine that worries me, it's the fact that we haven't seen any Telethia at all." Reyn laughed, and quipped, "They're scared of us, that's why." Shulk sighed at him, and continued. "Normally, there are always Telethia circling the Bionis' head, but now they don't seem to be anywhere. It just worries me a little."

Everyone had distress signals, and if for any reason they were trapped anywhere, it would transmit their locations to Kallian and all other Havres pilots, who would rescue them.

As the Havres were bathed in orange from the sunset, they crossed into Eryth Sea, where the armies of Homs, Mechon, Nopon, and High Entia were all assembled, and Kallian began his speech.

"Homs. Nopon. Mechon. High Entia. A year ago, it was not in any of our wildest dreams that a force like this could be assembled. But now, we have put our differences aside to fight against a force that aims to destroy us all. We are gathered here today in Eryth Sea to free as many High Entia from the Curse as possible, thus reducing Zanza's forces and freeing our Bionis brethren in one fell swoop. For the fate of this world, and of the High Entia, ATTACK!"

As he finished, Telethia began appearing. Hundreds flew out of Alcamoth, and many more appeared from the islands and the air. All around Egil and Melia's Neo-Havres, Eryth Sea was alight with streaks of Mechonis red and Bionis green, and the occasional white flashes of Telethia becoming High Entia. The Havres landed at the Centre Gate, and everyone took a few moments to watch the battle unfold.

The Homs let out a guttural roar, and began advancing on foot, allowed by the Andos to accurately attack the Telethia despite their mind-reading powers, entering the Hovering Reefs through Latael Shore. The Nopon cried, "Fight like legendary Nopon Sage!" and them and their Pterixes provided air support to the Homs. The Neo-Havres swooped around, gracefully weaving through blasts from Telethia, and hitting many large Telethia with huge blasts of Mechonis ether. The Mechon provided assistance to all the others, and the special Mechon targeted the High Entia who had been reverted, flying them away from the danger.

After watching, and growing satisfied, they entered the transporter to Alcamoth. After all, they did still have their mission.

* * *

**Alcamoth, 5:02 PM**

They materialized inside Alcamoth. It looked much the same as how they had left it, with one obvious change. A dark mist seemed to float in the air, likely remnants of the ether that Zanza had unleashed upon his return. The city was surprisingly devoid of Telethia, Egil noted. "Perhaps that was obvious, though, as many of them had flown out to fight," he thought. It was when they walked past the gate and out into the open that the memories began to flow back to Egil, one by one. By the time they had reached the base of the escalator, they had overtaken him.

It was like a slideshow of moments in Egil's adventure around Bionis, and each one brought many mixed emotions to him.

Crossing the Hand Bridge, and ascending the Bionis' left arm.

Climbing up to the Bionis' left shoulder, and being saved from monsters by Arglas.

Egil and Arglas finding Lum'ter in Gran Dell.

Lum'ter, leading him and Arglas through the gates of Alcamoth.

Arglas laughing at one of Lum'ter's jokes, in the restaurant they'd eaten at.

Them talking about the state of the world, back at Lum'ter's house.

Then, later memories.

Departing for the Nopon village, across the Bionis' right shoulder.

Setting up camp in Satorl Marsh, marveling at the ether lights.

Finding the Secluded Shin Hollow.

Traveling back up through Tephra Cave.

Fighting monsters on the Bionis' right shoulder.

Another stay in Alcamoth for a few days.

Saying goodbye to Arglas, as he returned to Gran Dell, surely believing that he would see him again in a few weeks.

And then...the Bionis awakening.

Upon its awakening, fleeing Alcamoth, and retracing their route down to the Bionis' right leg.

Lum'ter's ill-fated return to Alcamoth.

"These memories were kept buried for a reason," Egil thought. "They are too painful. Even now that Lum'ter has returned, it is impossible for Arglas to ever return. However, I ought to reconnect with Lum'ter. No doubt, he is in the same situation I am in, with painful memories threatening to overtake him. When we return to Colony 6, I..."

Egil heard Reyn yell, "Oi, Egil! We got company!" Looking around, a Phoenix Telethia had spotted them, and was flying at them with its paws outstretched. Three more had noticed the group, and were running in their direction. Before they could reach the group, Sharla hit the flying Telethia with the ether, and Melia attacked two of the grounded ones with it. The third was considerably more clever, hanging back to observe the group.

It took flight, hovering around them at a distance, out of range of the ether spray, shooting ether beams at them. It seemed to be taunting them. After about thirty seconds of this, Riki seemed to take offense at it, and yelled, "Dinobeast come down here and fight Riki and sidekicks!" It seemed to make a weird noise, almost sounding like laughter. Riki interpreted it as laughter, because he got even angrier, and yelled, "If Dinobeast not come down and fight Riki, Riki come up and fight Dinobeast!"

He crouched down, before jumping at the Telethia while flapping his wings, landing on its back, and unleashing several blasts of ether, all while biting at its wings. Jumping down before the Telethia reverted into a High Entia, he made a not-so-graceful landing on the floor of Alcamoth. Melia asked him, "Are you all right, Riki?" He pulled himself up, spat out a clump of ethereal golden Telethia feathers, and told her, "Riki fine! Riki thank Melly for asking!"

Looking around, Egil noted that he could not see any other Telethia, at all. Were these four truly the only ones guarding Alcamoth? One of the High Entia, returning to her senses, asked, "What just happened? Wait, was I...a Telethia...this whole time? And..." She gasped. "Is that really Shulk?" She promptly passed out, to join the rest of them in unconsciousness. "Looks like ya got quite a fanclub, Shulk!" Reyn remarked. Egil called four of the special Mechon, which were fortunately able to pass through Alcamoth's anti-Mechon shielding, likely disabled due to Telethia being unable to maintain it.

After the High Entia were on their way to Colony 6, Shulk looked around, noticing the same absence of Telethia. He commented, "Hmm, I can't see any other Telethia, besides the four that we just fought. Were those really the only ones here?" Reyn answered him, "I dunno, probably? Most of 'em probably came out to fight, I can't see a Telethia staying in Alcamoth when there's lots of ether right outside. Anyway, we'd better get a move on. That High Entia Emblem-whatchamacallit ain't getting any closer." Shulk still seemed uneasy, but he conceded, "All right."

* * *

**Alcamoth Throne Room, 5:13 PM**

Everyone had begun to grow somewhat uneasy. Sure, they'd expected to not see many Telethia, but not as few as they had seen. The only Telethia they had seen at all were the ones they'd fought in front of the escalator. Even the throne room, which everyone had expected to at least have one Telethia in it, lacked any. Something was giving everyone a vague sense of unease.

They approached the transporter to the balcony above Melfica Road, and Melia explained. "Ordinarily, this transporter leads to the balcony. However, the Emperor, or Empress, in my case, can also use it to travel to the royal quarters, which the Emperor or Empress's private office is a part of. No one but him or her can travel there, unless he or she grants them access to it. I shall go through now, and obtain the High Entia Emblem. Would all of you come with me? All you must do is transport at the same time."

Everyone walked through, and emerged in a hallway. Melia opened the first door on the left, which revealed an office, with a portrait of the late Emperor Sorean hanging on the wall, luxurious violet carpet, and a desk carved out of ebony. She walked up to the desk, and pulled out the bottom drawer. In it, there lay the High Entia Emblem. Or, it should have laid there. In place of it, there was a sheet of paper, with three different styles of handwriting.

The first style was barely legible. It looked more like random scribbles on the page than actual letters. It was also full of grammatical errors. Melia seemed to struggle to read it. "Oi, Shur- no, Shulk!" Shulk asked her, "Melia, why don't I try to read it?" She passed it to him, and he began to read it.

"Oi Shulk! If your reading this weve taken the High Entia emblem. Cant allow you to break into the Telethia lab now can we? Irregardless, you shouldnt of kept me waiting..  
-Dickson"

The next style was also barely legible, but for the opposite reason. It was too complex. Each letter had at least two unnecessary swirls, and was written in the most snobbish way possible.

"Your Highness, it really is a pity that you did not find the High Entia Emblem here. However, we simply cannot allow you to destroy the Telethia laboratory. It is too vital."

The final style of handwriting was normal, but was identifiable not by who signed it, or by the handwriting, but by its contents.

"You meddlesome bacteria will never destroy the Telethia laboratory. That is simply the passage of fate. You cannot hope to overcome the power of a god."

As soon as Shulk finished reading, a loud noise could be heard, then the sound of breaking glass.

Dunban immediately took charge, and told everyone, "Let's go, now. We need to investigate that noise. I have a suspicion on what, or rather, who it might be, but we must see for ourselves. They sprinted out of the royal chambers, through the throne room, into the palace proper. They were about to run down the escalator when they heard the same loud thud they heard before.

"Hahahahaha! I thought I might find you lot here!"

Dickson was standing directly behind them, in front of the entrance to the palace, and on his belt, the High Entia Emblem - a silver High Entia feather with a handle, likely for turning it in a lock. Melia was the first to speak. "I must say, your grammar leaves a lot to be desired, Dickson! One would think that after tens of thousands of years of existing, one might take some time to improve their writing skills!"

He jabbed back, "Fighting is the only constant in this world! Why should I waste my time? **Anyway**, if you want to get to the Telethia lab, you'll have to go through me. It was a clever idea to try to free Alcamoth, but you failed to account for my warning. I meant it when I said to not keep me waiting. Now, let's go, already! I'm getting tired of waiting."

Egil sized him up. He seemed to be just a Homs, but Egil knew better. His Giant form would be very destructive, so it was unlikely that he would unleash it here.

Egil made the first move. Holding Meyneth's Monado in a ready stance and activating it, its red blade materializing from the ether, he charged at Dickson. Dickson shot twice at him, but he sidestepped both times. Holding the blade ready, he swung it towards Dickson's side, who nonchalantly raised his rifle to block it.

Dickson snorted. "Hmph, way too easy for me to tell. Try telegraphing less, why don't you?"

They broke away from each other, and Dickson began shooting bullet after bullet at Egil, who managed to keep dodging, but seemed to be becoming weaker and weaker. Reyn whispered to Dunban, "Now's our chance!" and they both charged at Dickson, who now had his back turned away from the rest of them.

He heard them approaching, deftly ducked under Reyn's attempt to swing at him, and crossed blades with Dunban.

"You traitor! We fought together at Sword Valley, even after Mumkhar abandoned us, and now, you betray us like the filth you are! **How dare you?** Of us three, I am the only one that was truly loyal to the interests of all Homs, rather than to himself or his true master! How I miss those days when I was blind to the truth about both of you."

Dickson didn't seem to care what Dunban was saying, and he huffed. Dunban seemed to be becoming overpowered by Dickson's strength, despite him still being a Homs, and just as their blade lock was about to reach his face, Melia launched a Mind Blast, which disoriented him enough for Dunban to be able to break the blade lock without risking retaliation. As soon as he regained his senses, he charged at Dunban, but Sharla shot a few rounds at him to distract him, and he began charging at her.

Fiora got in his way, blocked one of his shots with a sword, and they began crossing blades, until she was finally able to overpower him with the strength of her Mechon body and force him back, skidding back several feet.

Before he could retaliate to Fiora, Shulk ran at him, attempting to unleash Back Slash, but before he could wound Dickson, Dickson whirled to face him and met Shulk's blade with his own. Dickson's strength seemed to be overwhelming him, then he braced the sword with his other hand, and began to overwhelm Dickson. Dickson pushed harder, bracing with his spare hand, and Shulk seemed to be becoming overwhelmed once more.

Then, Shulk began to glow, surrounded by blue fire and the aura of Zanza. Dickson seemed to be overwhelmed again, but with nothing to turn to, he was forced to break the blade lock and hastily roll out of the way of Shulk's retaliatory attack. Remembering how Shulk, with this power, had been able to block Yaldabaoth's sword, a sword held by a fifty-foot Mechon, Egil realized that once Shulk was able to tap into that power, Dickson stood no chance.

Then, it happened again. A red spark appeared in the middle of Egil's vision, which grew in size until it covered it entirely. Shulk and Dickson began clashing blades again. One, two, three, four, five, six, and on the seventh time, when Shulk was distracted, Dickson shot him directly in the chest. The vision faded. Shulk and Dickson began clashing blades again. One, two, three...

Before the vision could come true, Egil charged at Dickson, determined to end the battle, and he crossed blades with him once more, changing the future. Then, something surprising, but advantageous happened.

Dickson's rifle became stuck in between one of the Monado's prongs. With a shout of "Urk!" Dickson tried to wrench it out, but Egil's innate mechanical strength won out in the end, and before Dickson was able to pull it out, he threw both weapons behind him, charging at Dickson. He knocked him down with a well-placed punch to the chest, and before he could get back up, placed a boot on his chest, and grabbed the High Entia Emblem off his belt.

Before he could kill Dickson, however, Dickson began to glow pink, as a white haze consumed his Homs body. It grew in size, before dissipating to reveal Dickson's true form. A giant.

With a distorted voice, he muttered, "You got the better of me, huh, Egil? Well, I'm glad. Finally, a worthy opponent. I'll be getting out of your way now, but I'll say it again: **don't keep me waiting**. We **will** meet again, I promise you that." With that, he ran and grabbed his rifle, which had come loose from the Monado, jumped onto a Telethia that was out of range of the spray, and left Alcamoth through the hole he'd made in the ceiling, disappearing and leaving only the orange sky of sunset.

Melia was the first to break the relieved silence. "So, shall we head for the Telethia laboratory?" "Mhm, let's do that," Shulk affirmed.

* * *

**Centre Gate, 5:35 PM**

The sunset was even brighter when Egil and the others emerged through the transporter. Within an hour, it would be dark once more, and it seemed like there were many masses of the same ether wavelength high above them, a sign of a coming meteor shower that night.

Before they entered the High Entia Tomb, Dunban turned to Reyn, telling him, "Let Melia handle this, all right?" Egil asked him, "What do you mean, Dunban?"

As Reyn muttered, "Not this again..." Dunban told him, "The last time we came here, Reyn pressed a button that caused us to fall down a shaft and waste precious time. I'm simply making sure that doesn't happen again."

Reyn shook his head, saying, "I thought we'd moved on from this already!"

Riki, ever vigilant for an opportunity to berate Reyn, told him, "Dundun have point. Reyn not very smart. Dundun making sure he not do it again."

"**OI!**"

* * *

**High Entia Tomb (Ceremony Hall), 5:36 PM**

Just as the Mechon scout's camera had seen, there was what appeared to be a wall with a keyhole in the shape of a High Entia wing feather. Egil inserted the High Entia Emblem in the lock, turning it with its handle, and the "wall" disappeared, to reveal a dark corridor.

There certainly was plenty of ether inside, as Egil was able to sense tons of it cascading through a reserve below the room. If blown up, it would likely send a huge fireball all the way throughout the High Entia Tomb, but the stone it was built out of seemed to be naturally resistant to ether explosions, almost as if it was built with this in mind.

"Be on your guard," Dunban explained. "We don't know what could be in here. There could be a Telethia lying in wait, or an automated system designed to eliminate intruders."

As they crossed the bridge, surprisingly, there were no traps. They really did assume that no one would find them, Egil thought. He extracted a High Entia storage device from one of the pouches on his belt, handing it to Melia, who ran over to the computer terminal, plugging it in to one of the ports. A pop-up appeared, written in the High Entia script.

She moved the cursor to click the option highlighted in ether green, which she explained, "The notification says, 'Storage device detected. Would you like to copy all files to it? Note that if the storage device is not large enough, this may have to stop part of the way through.' And yes, the device is large enough. It is the cutting edge of storage technology."

A progress bar had appeared, and was now at .5%, already. High Entia technology was rather powerful. They made small talk as they waited for it to finish.

* * *

**Telethia Lab, 5:50 PM**

The progress bar was totally full now, and it disappeared. Melia pressed a button, which released the device, taking it and returning it to Egil, and then navigated into the computer's settings.

"System...General..." She scrolled all the way to the bottom, which had a large red button, which she said was "Self-destruct." As she pressed it, a notification popped up, which she said read, "Light ether explosives to destroy the laboratory. Will occur when five minutes have passed."

She clicked the green option, which caused red lights to flash, and a timer to appear.

A robotic male voice said, "Five minutes to self-destruct. Please evacuate the premises."

Everyone ran for the entrance, passing through the two trial rooms, and through the main room.

However, the false wall that led to the outside did not disappear. The voice came on again, saying, "Three minutes to self-destruct."

However, immediately after, another voice came on, which was most definitely non-robotic - Lorithia's.

"I cannot believe it. You actually managed to destroy the Telethia laboratory. However, if it must be destroyed, it will take you with it!"

The wall was still there. Melia spoke, "As crown princess of the High Entia, I demand that you release us immediately!" Nothing happened, and no response was given. She theorized, "It is possible that my royal clearance was never upgraded to crown princess, and because only the ruler and their heir can command the intelligence in the High Entia Tomb to do anything, my clearance is insufficient."

"Two minutes and thirty seconds to self-destruct. If you have not evacuated yet, please do so now."

Egil pressed the distress signal's button, saying, "We are locked inside the High Entia Tomb, and require assistance immediately. Please bring something that can cut through metal. I repeat, we are locked inside the High Entia Tomb, and require assistance immediately. Please bring something that can cut through metal."

Inwardly cursing himself for not thinking of this and bringing some sort of metal-cutting torch, he waited. Riki seemed to be panicking, and Melia picked him up and held him in her arms.

Through the static, Kallian's voice came through. "We're on our way, Egil. If my royal clearance does not work, we shall blast through the door."

"One minute to self-destruct. Please evacuate now."

After another fifteen seconds, the false wall disappeared, to reveal Kallian standing on the platform, his Havres behind him. After a quick "Thank you" to Kallian, they all ran through the transporter, and as they flew away from the Centre Gate and Alcamoth to join the Havres, a huge green wave of fire blasted out of the entrance to the Tomb.

* * *

**Colony 6, 7:04 PM**

The Havres landed in the field outside Colony 6, where a huge crowd of High Entia was standing, likely the Telethia that they had saved. Egil saw many of the pilots embracing High Entia among the crowd, their mothers, fathers, half-siblings, and many other relations. Kallian seemed pleased with the outcome, as he was standing there with a look in his eyes that could only be described as pride. Pride in his people, pride in the Havres pilots, and pride in Shulk's group.

Egil approached him, but before he could address him, Kallian began to speak to him. "How lucky we were that my royal clearance overrode Lorithia's trap. We would have had to cut the door open, which we were hoping to avoid, since the Tomb is an important site to our people. But, Egil, thank you. If not for your invention of the Telethia spray, this would have been impossible."

"When Dickson insinuated that he knew about the Telethia gene, and then implicated Lorithia, I was terrified, unlike anything I had ever felt in my entire life. I feared for my life and my sanity as a Telethia, but even more than that, I feared for how my absence would impact Melia. I was resolved to fight to the bitter end, even if it meant I had to die. However, I didn't have to."

"You gave me a second chance at life, Egil. I am eternally grateful for that. You gave every Telethia a second chance at life. So, thank you for all that you've done, child of Mechonis and heir to Meyneth's Monado."

At this sudden outpouring, Egil could only respond with, "You're welcome, Kallian. I, too am glad that I was able to save so many High Entia."

"I am glad to hear it, Egil. Now, I believe your sister is looking for you."

"Vanea? Where did you see her?"

"She was on the deck of Junks, but she may have moved since then."

"All right. Thank you for telling me, Kallian."

Egil found Vanea right where Kallian had told him she was, sitting on the deck of Junks, gazing at the stars.

"Ah, Brother! I was hoping that you would find me. Will you look at the stars with me, like we used to as children?"

He sat down next to her, and said, "The stars are always so calming. Lady Meyneth loved to gaze at them as well. I hope that we can do this many more times, once the threat of Zanza is eliminated once and for all."

"I agree, Egil. There's something so calming in realizing that even if we are dealing with something that wants to destroy us all, the stars are always the same. Even over the ten thousand years or even more of a Machina's lifespan, they hardly move at all. Perhaps the Northern Glass may be slightly differently shaped after the rest of our thousands of years, but it would be only slightly different."

"There are many theories on the stars, Vanea. Some say they are pieces of wood, eternally burning. Others say they are huge balls of fire, burning at great distances. However, the most prevalent theory, and the theory that Lady Meyneth confirmed to be true, is that they are simply spheres of glowing ether, eternally circling around the world. How wonderful it would be to see one up close."

At this moment, Riki's voice rang out over the colony. "**EEEEEGIL? VANEEEEEA? Friends come celebrate with Heropon!**"

Egil said, "Well, shall we go find him?" She nodded her head, and they set out in the direction of his voice.

Upon arriving, they saw that lots of food and drink had been set out on tables, and many of the citizens of Colony 6, as well as the High Entia and Shulk's group, were partaking.

The party was a nice distraction, but soon enough, they would need to prepare to take the fight to Zanza. They could not wait another day. They would convene in Junks later that night.

* * *

**Colony 6, 1:00 AM  
December 21st, 63,851 MSC**

The group had convened inside Junks. Shulk began by saying, "Zanza is inside the Bionis. I just know it."

Dunban added, "Dickson must be there as well," and Shulk responded, "Yes, and Alvis, too."

Reyn asked him, "That's all good, but how do we get to them? If they're inside the Bionis, we're gonna need to dig a pretty deep hole!"

"How long that take? Riki get old soon!"

Miqol, sitting in his spot as the Machina chief, interjected, "It just so happens I have the answer. On the Bionis' chest is a massive hole that leads inside. Egil created the wound when he piloted the Mechonis by remote to defend Junks."

Shulk, coming to a conclusion, asked him, "So that means..."

Otharon told him, "Yes. While the allied force defends Colony 6 from any remaining Telethia, you can sneak inside that wound and take out Zanza!"

Vanea explained, "We will take Junks. Let my father know when you are ready to depart."

Reyn exclaimed, "Yeah, time to knock some heads!"

"Riki never lose! For Riki family, Riki win!"

Dunban declared, "We must show this god our unyielding will to survive!"

Melia proclaimed, "The suffering of my people will not be in vain!"

Sharla added, "The crimes against our friends will not go unpunished!"

Fiora, with a determined look on her face, cried, "The Machina and the peoples of Bionis will never give in!"

Egil finished with, "**And I will have my revenge.**"

Fiora asked Shulk, "Are you ready, Shulk?"

Shulk affirmed, "Ready! We go to the Bionis' chest. We will free our world from Zanza's curse."

Junks took off from Colony 6, clearing the Mechon-made barrier, ascended until it was level with the Bionis' chest, and flew into the hole.

* * *

**In a room inside Prison Island...**

"Why didn't you do **anything **to stop them, Dickson?" Lorithia was very angry, and somewhat understandably. "You do realize that we lost ninety percent of our Telethia with just that single attack?"

Dickson huffed. "Lorithia, I'm not invincible. If I tried to go up against a huge force of people like that, even I would be defeated. Far better to wait here for Shulk to come, then defeat them."

"And even if we defeat them, what will we do? Mount an assault with the remaining Telethia? We simply do not have enough!"

A new voice called, "Patience, Lorithia. It will not do to dwell on what-ifs. The passage of fate says that we will be victorious. That is all we need."

She responded, "Ah, Lord Zanza! You are correct, as always! We will win, I am just rather annoyed with Dickson right now."

He told her, "If it helps, Lorithia, I have a plan."

He whispered it in her ear, which made her straighten up in surprise, but delight.

* * *

**A/N: Well, that's the longest chapter I've written so far! I'm excited, too. I'd say we're over halfway there.**

**Have a good day, waluigifan20**


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